


Mischief Managers

by SuralindaJavos



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Animagus, Bickering, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Marauders (Harry Potter), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hufflepuff, Longclaw - Freeform, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Moony - Freeform, Muggleborn, Multi, Padfoot - Freeform, Pranks, Prongs - Freeform, Ravenclaw, Romance, Sassy, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black Lives, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slytherin, Wormtail - Freeform, Young Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2019-10-21 01:10:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17633216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuralindaJavos/pseuds/SuralindaJavos
Summary: You, a somewhat sassy Gryffindor girl, have troublemaker tendencies. Which gradually becomes worse after you sneak into the Forbidden Forest and get attacked by a werewolf. Now, you have to find out who that is, all the while navigating you and your best friend, Lily Evans, away from a bothersome group named the Marauders. Which turns out to be more and more difficult as your hate towards Sirius Black might not be hate after all..(A/N): There's also a trailer if you wanna check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK_Hw7Xy8BI&feature=youtu.be





	1. A Train Trip

**A Train Trip**

It was the end of the summer, and you were about to start your 7th year at Hogwarts. The trip to the school was the same as always; a train ride with your friends Lily and Marlene. Lily had spent the summer exchanging letters with another 7th-year student, James Potter, who you could not stand. It was the same with the rest of his friends, they were all arrogant and exclusive. Quite similar to the bullies at your early muggle school. Lily used to think the same and now you have to listen to her go off about the charming and funny James Potter.

 

  Unlike Lily you spent your summer being productive and studying. Mostly transfiguration…

You did the hard work and can now proudly call yourself an animagus. Well, not proudly, because you’re not really supposed to tell anyone, considering the fact that it’s very illegal to be unregistered. Not even Lily knows.

 

  “So what did you do?” Lily asks, drawing your attention away from the window. 

 

  “What? Oh sorry” You said dumbfoundedly, “I didn’t do much. I studied a bit perhaps,” you lied. 

 

  “Studied?” Lily raised a questioning eyebrow and shot Marlene, who had a slight smile on her face, a glance. 

 

  “What? Is that so hard to believe?” you inquired, with a pretend-to-be-offended tone to your voice.

 

  “Not at all! It just sounds a bit...  I don’t know,” Lily thought for a second, “Boring”

 

  “And sensible” Marlene joined in.

 

  “Don’t forget responsible!”

 

  “So, all in all, pretty much everything you’re not” Marlene joked, sending both you and Lily into a laughing fit. 

 

  Once you recovered a bit you countered, “Hey! I would like to point out that I had one of the highest O.W.L scores in my year!” throwing some of your jelly beans at both the girls. 

 

You did not imagine that they’d go into offense so quickly and before you knew any better you had started a food fight with mainly magic candy, which is not a great idea, you’d like to point out. Because all of a sudden the cabin was filled with chocolate frogs jumping around.

 

  “Truce! Truce!” Lily yelled throwing her hands up. But it was too late, the frogs were basically bouncing off your heads causing quite a mess.

 

   “Flee! Evacuate!” Marlene yelled on top of her lungs with a grin from ear to ear. You opened the door and threw yourself into the hallway. Now usually everyone would be in the cabins but you aren’t exactly a lucky one. 

 

  “I’m sorry!” You exclaimed as soon as you felt your body ram into someone. Lily and Marlene were right behind you smacking you further into said person. You heard him laugh before you saw him. To escape the vicious candy you’d thrown your body into none other than the Sirius Black himself. Your smile faded and you quickly backed off as you pretty much had him pinned against the wall. 

 

  “Well, what do we have here? Damsel in peril? In need of saving?” He looked around with that smug look on his face and you didn’t know whether you wanted to punch him or punch yourself for being embarrassing. But you quickly shook the thought from your head, and just answered him on command. 

 

  “Not from you.” He raised an eyebrow at you but you were quickly distracted by the guy pushing past Black, James Potter, his best friend and Lily’s current romance (or friend, as she said. Although anyone could see the sparks flying). She threw herself into his arms which he wrapped around her tightly in an amorous hug. And all of sudden the gang entire gang was there; James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter. Now, due to the fact that neither Marlene or you knew them very well despite sharing house with them, everyone just kind of stood and watched Lily and James awkwardly.

 

  Sirius leaned in and talked to you with a hushed voice as to not disturb the happy looking couple, “You know, if you were in need of saving, I am quite capable of helping out.”

 

  “Helping out with what? Shampoo preferences?” you referred to his black locks, that were rather gorgeous. Not that you would ever say that out loud. But he was objectively handsome. People don’t just become the biggest flirt in the year without being at least somewhat attractive. And he had the package. Tall. Pretty. Charming. Funny. Bad boy. A little too bad for your liking. His last name is what repulsed you.  _ Black _ . Even though you were muggleborn you’d heard about the pureblood Black family. And if his family is half as bad as what you’ve heard then you have a good reason to stay clear of him.

 

Once James and Lily had finished greeting each other, Lily told the boys about the current candy problem. 

 

  “Let me help out,” James said and you could not believe your ears.  _ James Potter _ offering to  _ help _ ? That’s new. 

 

  “Count me in,” Remus said with a smile.

 

  “I’m not going to pass up the opportunity of free candy either,” Peter, the smaller one, said with a grin on his face.

 

  “And I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to watch these idiots fail miserably,” Sirius said with a smirk, earning himself a slap on the back by James. 

  
  



	2. A Midnight Stroll

**A Midnight Stroll**

 

After having gone through the whole headmaster's speech and distribution of the 1st years you were finally back in the dormitory unpacking your things. Lily and Marlene were still talking about James Potter and you swear your head would explode if he was mentioned one more time.

"I just don't get it! Last year and every year before that you hated him. He bullied Severus." You snapped at her slightly. "You literally called him an 'arrogant toerag' in 5th year" you added, making all of you chuckle a bit at that memory.

"I can't explain it, (Y/N). But he's just matured. Sure, he is still that silly guy who will stop at nothing to get my attention and his humor is a little dark, but he has changed. He is not a bully anymore. And I swear - we are just friends!" Lily smiled. And you understood her a little bit better. Jealousy kicked in. You weren't romantically interested in James, but you wished to have someone in your life that would make you smile just from talking about them.

"I get it. But that doesn't mean his friends aren't bullies." You added and send her a slight smile just to make sure she knew that you weren't judging her. You simply wanted her to proceed with caution. Those guys had quite the reputation of being pranksters.

It was late at night, but you couldn't sleep and you had a sudden need for fresh air. Also, you hadn't morphed yet on Hogwarts ground. Perhaps, it was because you found it symbolic that you decided to sneak outside. To start your new semester here using your newly required skill as an animagus.

Anyways, you trudged down the hill heading straight for the Forbidden Forest. You'd always thought the forest's fear-inducing reputation to be overrated. You had spent a lot of time in the woods without ever getting hurt. You were a bit of a troublemaker in your first years at Hogwarts and you liked to explore, and you liked it even better when you got to explore the places people told you not to explore. What can you say? You're a curious soul.

The night was dark and it was around midnight. The only thing lighting your path was the moon which was hidden behind clouds at the time. You were waiting to transform until you reached the forest to be certain no one saw you. Getting caught sneaking out after curfew is one thing, but breaking the Ministry's laws and becoming an unregistered animagus is in a whole other league.

You had had minimum opportunity to practice transforming in the summer and although it only took a second for you to be fully morphed, you hadn't quite gotten the hang of getting your clothes with you as well. So, you stood in the forest for a bit looking around the eerie trees surrounding you. You took a deep breath and you imagined the clothes becoming a part of you as you morphed into the animal. You were a Siberian husky. A big, wolf-like figure, steel blue eyes, with fluffy black and white fur.

You ran around the woods for hours. Amazed by your own speed, scent, and hearing. The scent of summer leaves, tree bark, and grass filling your nostrils. A faint smell of different animals was mixed in there as well, distinctively stags, dogs, rats and... wolves?

In the distant, you heard a howl. The animal instinct kicked in and you howled back and didn't think anything of it.

After that, you ran around for a little bit, before deciding to head back. You were close to the edge of the forest when you morphed back into your human form. To your surprise, you were finally able to transform back with your clothes very much intact. A smile tucked at your lips, as the sensation of pride filled your body. But it was short-lived.

All of a sudden something charged you from behind and you dove to the side as quickly as possible to dodge. But it was a tad too late. You felt a strong stinging sensation pulse through your body, originating from your upper arm where a deep claw mark now resided. Instinctively you dived behind it and morphed back into a husky but not focused enough to get your clothes with you. It was torn to pieces.  _Damn it_. You were on all fours behind the wolf that stood on its hind legs. Without thinking you clawed it from behind, however, it was now less aggressive than when it attacked you. You saw an opportunity to make a run for it and you took it. You ran like hell towards the castle, trying your best to ignore the stinging pain from your arm and the blood that was without a doubt gushing out of the wound.

You didn't think. You just ran and kept running until you reach Hagrid's hut where you saw his dog outside. Any given day he would have barked like an alarm, but due to your dog state, he must have sensed your distress. Thank god for dog solidarity. You took a mental note to bring biscuits for the dog next time you visit Hagrid. Slowly and stiffly you went human again. You were naked. Blood was dripping down your arm. Dirt covered pretty much every inch of your body.  _Shit_. The dog sent you a pitiful look, that's when you noticed he was sitting on a blanket.

You slowly approached it and whispered. "Relax... Let me just borrow this, please and thank you," the dog moved over and you wrapped its dirty smelly blanket around your naked body. Real nice. 

You moved your aching limbs towards the Whomping Willow. It was rather docile that day. Normally you wouldn't be able to get this close to the trunk without its huge branches trying to thump you. It was rather beautiful, in its own violent-trying-to-kill-everyone way, it had thick long leaves and its trunk was dark and twisted. It's beauty was quite paradoxical in that way. Like a thorn-ridden rose. 

It was hard to catch your breath. After the fight and the escape, you were exhausted. Your arm was stinging and bleeding, you were naked. Afraid. So, you collapsed and leaned against its trunk to catch a break.  _What had just happened? What attacked you?_  It was too big to be a wolf, too human-like. It couldn't be anything but a werewolf. However, Dumbledore would never allow werewolves to roam this close to school grounds. Would he? Werewolves are only in their wolf form once a day a month though. So, who is the wolf when it's not in wolf form? A Hogsmeade resident? A student? A teacher? Maybe Hagrid? He lives right by the forest it wouldn't be that absurd. However, something about that theory made you chuckle. Kind, sweet, teddy-bear Hagrid. A werewolf? Nope.

You were pulled out of your thoughts when you heard footsteps approach. You looked around desperately to find the source, but with no luck. It was dark out and you couldn't see clearly more than a few meters ahead. But the footsteps were so close. It was odd that no one was in sight. It was as if the sounds were coming from within the tree. You pressed your ear against the trunk, and your thought was confirmed. There had to be a secret cave or something inside of there. You could hear the footsteps coming closer and some indistinguishable voices. At the moment you could not move. All you could do was hope that they wouldn't come out this side of the trunk. And they didn't. You heard the footsteps of approximately two to three people exit the tree on the other side.

"I just don't understand it. He never runs off like that. Not when we're around," it was a guy. And by the sound of it, he had barely hit puberty yet.

"Well, that's no surprise. You don't understand much in general," another guy answered him, earning a chuckle from a third person. You knew you'd heard that voice before. But from where? "He ran off because of the howl."

"Are you certain? I didn't hear it," the third guy pitched in.

"Of course I'm certain. You guys just don't hear as well as I do. Don't doubt me, Prongs," you could hear the lightheartedness in his voice, and you knew that whoever these people were, they were friends. But it was hard to make sense of much else. They were walking further away from the tree and headed for Hogwarts. The tree shifted as if the trunk was closing in on itself, it was becoming more lively. You had to get away from there before it gets all murderous again. Slowly and steadily you followed the three guys. You couldn't see them properly in the darkness only the silhouette of their figures.

"But isn't it dangerous..." the first guy continued, "if there is another werewolf at Hogwarts."

"Don't worry, Wormy. I'll protect you," at this point, you'd concluded that there were three people. Wormy, Prongs and someone-yet-to-determined. It had to be nicknames of a sort because anything else would be ridiculous.

"He's got a point. We don't know what effect other werewolves could have on him." Prongs answered.

"Relax. It could just be a regular wolf. Those exist too, you know. And he doesn't hurt other animals." The unknown guy added, which almost made you chuckle.  _Doesn't hurt other animals? You say that to the big gash on my arm, buddy._ But, nonetheless, he did have a point. You were attacked as a human, but you ran off as an animal. That might not have been possible unless he held back when you shifted. For a second, you thought about stopping them and talking to them. But you were naked in a blanket.

And then they would probably want to know why you were out here at night. So, you decided against it. They might not be friendly. 

Your foot caught on the blanket causing you to topple over and roll into a bush. Earning you a few bumps and scratches on the way.

" _Shit_ ," you whispered.

They stopped. You laid incredibly still and steadied your breathing. They were further uphill and were hopefully not able to see you.

"What was that?" it was getting more difficult to hear them, and you wondered whether that was because of the distance or you slowly losing your conscience.

"Could it be Moony?"

"I don't see anything. Let's just head back and wait for him at the dorm." This Prongs said something more but you were unable to determine what it was. Anyways, the guys all followed him, so he must hold some sort of authority in the group.

···· Later ····

You had made it back to the dormitory and were trying to be as quiet as possible as you snuck inside. You shared a room with Lily, Marlene, and Mary MacDonald. They were all asleep and you did your best for it to stay that way. You grabbed your towel to head for the shower, but dropping the blanket must have made some noise because you heard Lily rustling in the bed beside you.

She groggily woke up and rubbed her eyes a bit. "(Y/N)? What are you doing up?" she took a look at the clock and then back up at you. That's when she noticed the state you were in. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at you in horror and quickly got up. "(Y/N)! What-" You quickly shushed her.

"I'm fine! Don't worry. I'll tell you everything. But you cannot tell anyone. Promise me." You whispered and looked at her seriously. You had pulled a number of pranks on her throughout the years and she had to know that this wasn't one. She was nodding. "Promise me!" you emphasized.

"I promise, (Y/N), you have my word. I'd do anything for you just let me help," she answered and followed you out the door, as to not awaken the others.

"I need your help. I got attacked in the forest and it got me good." You exposed your arm to her.

She pulled out her wand, "Lumos." You didn't believe it to be possible but her eyes widened even more. "Shit-" she took a deep breath, as to take some time to think- "we need to wash it first." You mentally thanked her for not instantly bombarding you with a thousand questions but just helping and trusting you instead.

"That's what I was about to do." You sent her a smile and gestured to your towel.

After the shower, the two of you sat by the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

"Let me have a look at it." She held her wand out and gently grabbed you. " _Ferula_." she tapped your upper arm with the wand and conjured up some bandages that wrapped around the wound and eased the pain.

"Thank you." You muttered.

"You're welcome," she said, but her demeanor instantly changed into less of a scared friend into a concerned and angry one. "Now, would you mind telling me what the bloody hell is going on?!" she snapped.

"Long story short. I walked into the Forbidden Forest. I was attacked from behind by a werewolf. I ran. And I woke you up. Sorry about that by the way I really didn't mean to wake you-" You diverted your gaze to the fireplace- "we should probably head to bed now though. It is late." You stood up to leave.

Lily was stunted but immediately pulled you back down in your good arm. "Hold up (Y/F/N)! There's still a whole lot of gaps you need to fill out here," she said, "First of all, what were you doing out at night? What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest? A werewolf? What? Who?" she took a deep breath and looked straight at you with her brows furrowed.

You collected yourself and looked her in the eyes as you told her the entire story. 


	3. Bloody Guilt

**Bloody Guilt**

_Sirius Black’s Point of View_

 

Remus came limping into the dorm room a few hours after the others had returned. James, Peter, and Sirius were all waiting for him. Sirius knew something was terribly wrong the second he came in the door. His breathing was ragged, his jaw clenched to hold back the inevitable sob. There was a big bloody fling on his leg making him leave a trail of blood.

 

  They all rushed to him. Sirius instinctively grabbed him by the shoulder and put him on his bed and tossed the blanket over his shoulders to cover his naked body.

 

  “Bloody hell Moony. What happened?” James asked while slightly tilting his head.

 

Remus appeared to not have heard him. He averted his gaze and just stared at the ground. His entire body was trembling, his lip was quivering and ultimately he just bowed his head down.

 

  “Mate, you have to tell us what is going on. We can’t help you unless you do.” Sirius crouched down and placed his hand on Remus’ shoulder once again in hopes of bringing him back from whatever hole his mind had crawled into.

 

He finally looked up at the boys with tears filling his eyes. “I-” his voice was wobbly and he had to swallow before being able to continue -”I attacked someone.” And then came the tears. He’d attempted to hide his pain with stifled sobs but he couldn’t hold it back anymore. His body was shaking as the sobs now wracked from his chest.

 

James pulled him in for a hug. Leaving Peter and Sirius just standing there. Sirius wished there was something he could do. But not even magic could make this okay. This bloody fucking curse. Remus didn’t deserve this.

 

  The sobbing stopped but Remus’ face was still red, puffy and tear-filled. James pulled back a little but still had him within arm's length. Sirius had a million questions to ask him but thought it would be better to just let him collect himself first and not push his fragile state any further.

 

  “I don’t understand what happened. I’ve been going over it in my head… but it just doesn’t make any sense.” Remus massaged his temples.

 

  “Tell us. We can help.” James said and looked at Peter and Sirius who nodded in unison.

 

  “I remember when I howled back at the shack with you guys. But then I heard a second howl and I had to pursue it but I didn’t find another wolf.” He ran his hand through his hair. “There was a girl. I didn’t see her. I just- I just attacked her from behind but all of a sudden she wasn’t there and it’s as if my aggressiveness died down a bit but I.. Something clawed me from behind. But when I turned to fight it it was just gone and I-”

 

  “Breathe. Okay. Just breathe for a second,” Sirius paused Remus whose breathing had become more and more ragged as he told the story.

 

  “When the moon disappeared and I came to I went back to find the girl. But all I found was torn up robes. Whoever she is or was she is from Gryffindor.” He dropped his head into his hands.

 

They all took in a deep breath and exchanged some looks as if they were having an unspoken conversation.

 

  “But that doesn’t make any sense. Where did she go?” Peter said with furrowed brows and widened eyes.

 

This created a pause in the conversation. Sirius pinched his nose bridge trying to make sense of it. _Holy shit._ James looked to Sirius whose mouth had fallen wide open.

 

  “Care to share your epiphany with the rest of us?” James raised his eyebrows.

 

  “Just think about it. A girl, a student, was wandering about in the Forbidden Forest. Why? Perhaps for the same reason, we were.” He looked at Peter and James with a slight smile on his face, but they looked as puzzled as ever. Remus, the smart friend, however, seemed to understand.

 

  “I think I get it. When I heard the howl from a wolf and I found the girl. She must have been the wolf. So, when I attacked her… she didn’t disappear she just became the wolf again. And **that’s** who left my leg all clawed up.” He was staring off into the distance, obviously turning the memory over in his head again.

 

  “But werewolves don’t turn at will,” Peter stated.

 

  “But animaguses do!” the rest of them said in unison, all baffled by their realization.

 

Then they just sat there for a minute taking in the idea and giving some time to tend to Remus’ leg.

 

  “I must say… Whoever this girl is she had some long claws. Do not mess with her again, Moony.” James joked in an attempt to bring some lightheartedness to the situation.

 

  “I don’t intend to.”

 

  “I hate to ruin the moment… but you have messed with her. If you look like this-” Sirius gestured to the wound- “what does she look like?”

 

  “I don’t know…” Remus dropped his gaze to his right hand as if he remembered something. He couldn’t take his eyes off his fingertips that were covered in blood with some skin wedged in between the nails. He let out a slight sob and quickly put his left hand to his mouth.

 

Sirius cursed himself for asking. But he knew that he had to. What if the girl with the long claws were lying in a ditch somewhere all clawed up?

 

“I got her by the shoulder. I don’t know how bad it is but that’s all I did. She’s probably alive but she’s always going to have a scar. I can’t… I did that to someone. I shouldn’t be at this school. I’m a monster. A danger to all of you.” He spiraled.

 

  “That’s not true, Moony. You have a heart of gold. You wouldn’t be crying over this if you didn’t.” James padded him on the back.

 

  “Yeah, you’re no danger. I’ve seen you scream at a spider. Excuse me if I don’t tremble at the sight of you.” A smile tugged at Sirius' lips and Remus let out a silenced chuckle as he wiped away the tears with the back of his palm.

 

  “Look, we’re going to figure this out tomorrow. It’s nearly morning, so I say you skip your classes tomorrow-” James started but was quickly interrupted by Remus.

 

  “-I can’t skip classes on the first day!”

 

  “Yes you can and you will. Don’t think about the homework. We’ve got that down for you.” James looked to Sirius and Peter who nodded at him to confirm. “You just relax and the rest of us will put our keen minds together and figure out this whole mess. No need to worry.” James assured him.

 

  “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without You”

 

 

 

> **author's note: Hey guys! I hope you like what you're reading. This is my first published fanfiction and I really appreciate the kudos I've gotten. I know there hasn't been a lot of Sirius x Reader yet, but I promise you will see more in the future:) Please leave a comment and let me know what you think? Constructive critism is also appreciated. Love you** **lots**

 


	4. Spilled Water, Oops

**Spilled Water, Oops.**

 

You woke up the next morning and your gash on your arm felt significantly better than before. But it was still tender which made it difficult to put your clothes on. However, you couldn’t really show that, if you wanted to keep it a secret from Marlene and Mary.

  

The Great Hall during breakfast was buzzing. Everyone was thrilled to be back. Except for the first years, of course, who looked like a mix between terrified and excited. Especially the muggleborns, who are easy enough to point out if you are one yourself.

 

Mary and Marlene sat across you and Lily and looked like they were deep in conversation which allowed you to talk to Lily about the episode yesterday. Lily, of course, suggested that you should just tell Dumbledore, the headmaster she trusted so much, the truth. That idea was quickly shrugged off by the small fact that you are an unregistered animagus and would end up in Azkaban or something.

 

The big question remained. Who was the werewolf? So far you knew it must've been a student. 

 

  “What sucks most about this is that now you won’t be able to do your back-to-school prank,” Lily said. Perhaps a little bit too loud. So, you quickly shushed her.

 

  “Would you shut it, please!” you hissed and looked around to make sure no one heard. The back-to-school prank was a neat little tradition of yours. You did it every year. It actually started out accidentally on your first day of school when someone called you a mudblood and a little magic slipped out of your control and all of a sudden it was raining cats and dogs in the Great Hall. _Oops_.

 

The little incident brought out a bit of a devious side in you and it turned out that you were a natural rascal.

 

So, as you grew older the pranks grew bigger. Every year, there was a prank at the start of the semester and at the end of it. The teachers hated it, but they couldn’t quite figure out who did it. (Although, they did blame James’ group one year which was hilarious because he had been a total ass for a while and needed to be shot down a little.)

  Most of the students loved it, and anticipated it, as it made a good ice-breaker at the start of the year. However, others were not so fond of it. Specifically the Marauders. Who, you suppose, felt threatened by the fact that there were other pranksters at play. They try figuring out who it is every year, and always fail miserably. It is quite satisfying. The only ones who really know about it are Lily, Mary, and Marlene.

 

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got something planned,” you said with a mischevious smirk. “Let’s just say Divination is going to be a whole lot more fun this year.”

 

  “Would you mind telling me what it i-” Lily started, but was interrupted by James Potter plopping down next to her. Right behind him was Peter, Sirius, and Rem- no. How strange. Remus wasn’t there. Perhaps they had a fallout. Which was unlikely. You had never seen them fight. They argued and bickered a lot but never anything serious by the looks of it. “Oh, hi James,” Lily said casually.

 

  “Hey.” he smiled. “So, you’ve got divination too this year?” He asked her, and you felt the blood drain from your face hoping he only heard the tail end of your conversation. Which by the looks of it he did, because he was way too casual about it if he didn’t. So, apparently you and Lily have divination with the Marauders. Lovely.

 

Peter sat down next to you, and Sirius Black confidently stepped up on the table and sat down on the opposite side next to Marlene and Mary. With Peter next to you, Sirius in front of you, and James once over, you had a strange feeling of suddenly being surrounded by the enemy.

 

  “Hello, loves,” he said to the two girls with a smirk as he mushed in between them, “(Y/L/N)” he greeted you in a rather monotone voice.

 

  “Blue,” you replied. You knew damn well what his last name was, but you weren’t going to give him the satisfaction. What caught you by surprise, however, was that he knew your last name.

 

  “It’s Black.”

 

  “Oh, sorry, my bad. I’ll try and remember it,” you said borderline sarcastic.

 

  “Where’s Remus?” Lily questioned across the table. She could have just asked James, but she probably wanted to remove whatever tension you had created with your somewhat justified bad attitude.

 

The boys all exchanged a look before James took the lead and answered.

 

  “He’s sick. He caught a cold last night,” he said nonchalantly.

 

  “I’m sorry to hear that, send him my- our regards please,” Lily said with a genuine smile and spoke on behalf of the both of us. James looked to you as to see that you were also in on it and you actually were. Remus was a nice guy. Quite down to earth. Not as pompous as _some_ other Marauders. Your eyes landing on Sirius, who was already looking at you.

 

  You quickly looked at your food and grabbed a bun from the plate.

 

  “Lily, I’ll see you class. I um- I forgot some stuff back in the dormitory. Could you get my schedule for me?” you asked, earning yourself a curious look from Sirius. Any other day she would have insisted you waited for her, but she was well aware of what happened last night and that you might need some space.

 

You left the hall and you knew that the rational thing would be to sort out the werewolf thing, like checking up on your wound, removing your tracks in the forest, or figure out who it is. But there were greater things at play which needed your attention and that was the Prank.

 

There were traditions to uphold and expectations to be met and that could only be done if you acted fast.

 

You had a whole lot of plans made out just in case one would fail.

 

You could make all the food in the Great Hall levitate and then crash down, but that is too much like your 3rd-year prank where you made all the food attack the students and faculty and ultimately started the greatest food war ever known to Hogwarts.

 

Perhaps, you could switch up the decor of all the Houses. Imagine how pissed the Slytherins would be if they walked into their dungeon and saw, red, lions, and gold. No. You needed to think bigger.

 

Ultimately, you decided on a prank that you didn’t dare do the last time because of certain technicalities.

The water slide prank. The idea was that you’d basically make the Divination Stairwell into a giant waterslide.

You'd previously figured out how to remove the steps by copying the spell that turned the stairs to the girls' dormitory into a slide if a boy tried to climb them. All you needed was to make a few adjustments so it would turn into a slide for everyone and _solved_. You could apply it to the moving staircases. It was quite hard to do, but, as much as potions is Lily’s specialty, yours is charms. You’re excellent at it and not just at the spells that already exist, but you’re becoming more and more capable of creating your own. At least that’s the goal. At the moment you were merely capable of adjusting already created charms.  

  Which was all you needed to make the plan work.

 

You stood at the bottom of the Divination Stairwell which was accessible from the the seventh floor corridor. It was almost 9 am which meant that breakfast would end in about five minutes. You quickly scanned your surroundings to make sure you weren’t being watched.

 

  “ _Glisseo,”_ you muttered with your wand out pointing it towards the stairs. There were a loud, wailing, klaxon-like sound and the steps melted together to make a long, smooth stone slide.

“ _Aguamenti Procedo._ ” you now pointed your wand at the staircase where a continuous flow of water erupted from the start of the spiraling staircase and flowed to the very bottom.

“ Ebullio Ebubblium Aeternum,” you added, and bubbles emerged like water in a boiling pot from where the water hit the ground.

 

You turned on your heels rather hastily to leave the ‘crime scene’ as people would get rather suspicious if you were the first one there. But instead of seeing the empty seventh-floor corridor you now faced a wide-eyed Remus Lupin with water to his ankles.

 

  “Fuck.”

 

  “You- **wow** -you did that?” he asked in complete disbelief.

 

  “No.” you tried.

 

  “I saw you.”

 

  “Well, shit.”

 

He was about to ask you a question, but the two of you were both distracted by the bell. This meant that breakfast was over, and the seventh-floor corridor would be filled with people who had to attend classes in said corridor or people on their way to Divination.

 

  “Come on, quick!” he grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you over to the adjacent wall where he pushed a rock which revealed a hidden door that previously had blended into the wall seamlessly. The door was more of a latch perhaps the size of a portrait and was about two feet off the floor.

 

  He rushed into it, revealing a folded piece of parchment tucked into the waistband of his pants, it was seemingly blank. He then helped you in there by pulling your arm. (The good one, fortunately). The door closed and revealed a long tunnel dark tunnel. The only light in the small space came from small cracks in the door.

 

You and Remus were both crouched close to the light so you could see and hear when the people came which you tried but it was impossible to see through. Remus, however, was staring at you. It was hard to tell what kind of look it was, but it seemed like a mix between amazement, wonder, and confusion. Mostly confusion.

 

  “How did you know this was here? I’ve never seen this door before…”

 

  “Lucky guess,” he said rather unconvincingly. “Are you, by chance, the one who's been doing these pranks every year?”

 

His attempt to divert the conversation away from him was pitiful but deemed successful as you had absolutely no idea what to answer.

 

  “Guilty as charged.” you reluctantly admitted.

 

  “Even that year where the Great Lake was dyed a shimmering pink and James, Peter, Sirius, and I got blamed for it?”

 

  “Possibly,” you said with a tight-lipped smile. Cheeks turning a light shade of pink. You felt kind of bad now, Remus did save you from being caught red-handed by all the other students. How _did_ he do that? Wasn’t he ill? “James said you were sick?”

 

Remus took a deep breath and quickly looked away. Obviously hiding something he was quite shameful of.

 

  “Um, yeah. I just felt better and thought that I’d head for Divination.” he lied.

 

You were a curious soul and would ask questions if you could, but you were ultimately distracted by all the students that were rushing to the stairwell. At least that’s what it sounded like. You pushed the door slightly open, everyone was standing with their back to the door or pushing past people to see, you looked back at Remus, a slight smirk on your face.

 

  “Ready to slide?” you sneaked out the door, quickly followed by Remus.

 

All around you were students. Happy students. Most of them smiling from cheek to cheek. Everyone stood with water well above the knee and bubbles to the hip. But they didn’t care that their shoes or pants were drenched, they were having fun. Splashing each other. Laughing. You saw a first-year Hufflepuff blow bubbles at a Slytherin, and the play-fighting that followed.

 

You spotted Lily standing next to an astonished James, both standing with their mouth agape and wide eyes.

 

  “(Y/N)!” She yelled as she saw you and swung her arms around your neck. “Great job! You’ve truly outdone yourself,” she whispered as she hugged you.

 

  “Wanna be the first to try it?” You raised an eyebrow and invited Remus to join you, Lily, and James. “Repeat after me: _Ascendio!_ ” you raised your wand above you and you were propelled into the air and to the very top of the stairwell. James with Lily followed suit mere seconds later, with his around her hips, steadying the two of them. And Remus appeared after that but seemed to land a bit awkwardly on his one foot. Limping.

 

Lily and James were the first ones down the narrow spiraling slide. James sitting right behind Lily. They slid the whole way down, going faster and faster. One could probably hear the lot of them wooing through-out the castle.

 

The view from up here was spectacular. Bubbles were lifting off of the ground, rising all the way to the top. It looked magical. Someone had probably used a levitatoin spell on them, come the way they were defying gravity. Sunshine from the window shone upon the thin spheres of liquid, and multicoloured shimmer would come out the other end, illuminating the stairwell. From the bottom people were cheering Lily and James on as they reached the end of the slide and plummeted into the water. Making a big splash all round.

 

Others were now following suit and using different methods to get to the top. One person even brought a broom! You looked back at Remus with a raised eyebrow as to challenge him right before you ran to the water and slid down on your stomach. Your arms were out in front of you, splashing water onto your face, as you followed the curve of the tower to the pool that had manifested.

 

You emerged from the water. Victorious. You were completely drenched. Your hair was flattened by the water, hanging in locks, but it was perfect nonetheless. You spun loosely around yourself, looking up at the bubbles. Some were ascending, some descending. The same went for the students. A whole lot of them were going up the slide, and some down. So much was happening all around you. You did this. You made all these people happy. This is a proper prank. _Marauders take notes._

 

  “Nice bra.”

 

You spun around and faced a somewhat blushing Sirius Black. Then realization dawned on you. You looked down to your white shirt, and it was completely see through. The black bra was quite visible. Your arms flew up and covered your chest. Then, as the mature adult, you are, you sat back down in the water, with bubbles to your neck, looked at Sirius with eyes of discontent and slightly smirking, as you swept his feet off the ground. Literally.

  The before-dry-Sirius was now drenched as well. He emerged from the water, but you could barely recognize him from all the bubbles covering every inch of his body. Any attempt to hold back a giggle only made it fifty times as powerful and before you knew of it you were laughing at the shaggy haired boy.

 

“I will get you for this, (Y/L/N)!” the idiot exclaimed as he dived right for you, pulling you both into the water. He came back up, grinning. At least now, his shirt was equally as drenched as yours, clenching to his toned muscles. His _hideous_ toned muscles of course. You hate him, remember. His dark hair which was usually luscious was now drenched and sticking to his cheeks.

 

He quickly ran a hand through it and took you in. You were beautiful. He’d never seen someone so happy with just being happy. And when you smiled. Oh, when you smiled he could just melt right into the floor. Of course, you mustn't ever find that out.

 

  “You bloody fool!” You looked so cute when you got angry. Even cuter with all the bubbles sticking to you, bouncing along with you, as you floundered through the water to him, closing the distance. You then tried to push him into the water, much as he did to you, but you were much too weak for that. So, you kind of just stood there with your hands pressed against his broad shoulders, blushing more and more by the second.

 

You tried to evade eye contact, but from your peripheral vision, you knew he must have that smug smile of his, plastered all over his arrogant face.

 

You withdrew your hands with great force and splashed him with water. He tried to cover his face from it, but you were much too quick. Rightfully, you laughed at him. Again. Serves him right.

 

However, you didn’t know it would hit so many people, and so a few splashed back, but that hit a lot of the people behind you, and before you knew of it you’d started a splash war. It wasn’t necessarily, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin it was simply just based off of where you stood in the room. Houses fighting houses, friends against friends, seventh years against seventh years. Even in a divided war, Hogwarts had probably never been so unified.

 

  Lily was on the other side along with James, and Sirius and a bunch of other people. But you didn’t need them because you’d made a team up of Remus, who was looking a lot happier now than he was before, and Peter, who you’d never talked to before, and then a bunch of other people.

 

But the war was cut short when the room suddenly was drained of all water, and the stairwell turned back into, well, a stairwell.

 

  “That is quite enough everyone!” McGonagall shouted, “thirty points from...” her voice trailed off as she looked around and saw the great mixture of houses, and at the moment she had no one specifically to blame, so she blamed them all, “-all houses! And that will be another five points for every student who is not in their classroom in five minutes!”

 

You and Lily looked at each other with equally as raised eyebrows before you both sprinted up the stairs. Of course, growing tired after about a minute and then having to walk the rest of the way. On top of that, you were passed by Sirius and James. Much to your dismay.


	5. A Sight for Sore Eyes

**A Sight for Sore Eyes**

 

The divination classroom looked like a weird cross between someone’s attic, a rug boutique, and an old fashioned teashop. Everything was lit with dim, crimson light; the windows were covered by closed curtains, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves.

  Along the circular walls was shelves; crammed with silvery grey crystal balls, a huge array of teacups, and packs of tarot cards.

  The stone cobbled floor was hidden by hand-woven tribal rugs, that also hung on the wall.

  The seating was unconventional compared to the average classroom. Not only was the floor-plan in different levels, like that of a movie theater, but the seat themselves differed from cushions to tiny poufs and chintz armchairs.

 

The five minutes it had taken for you and Lily to climb the stairs was not nearly enough for you to dry. So, still dripping wet you and Lily made your way to the front of the class, which was the only place with free seats.

 

  Lily smiled at you; eyes sparkling. “That was epic. Probably the best one so far,”

 

  You dipped your head and put your hand out in a small bow as to honor yourself “Thank you, and you’re welcome,”

 

In the back of the class, the Marauders were talking very loudly, as always.

 

  “Don’t you think Minerva was too tough? I mean _30 points_ !? To _each_ house!” An inflamed Peter said to the lot of them. It took you a second to remember that Professor McGonagall’s first name was Minerva since literally no one but the bloody Marauders call her that. You couldn't help but think of the futility in retracting 30 points at the beginning of the year when the point score is at 0, and even if she plans of taken them away from the future points then 30 points from each house will still just level the playing field.

 

  “Too tough? Did you see what they did? Disrupting the first class of the year, flooding a corridor, and making a slide out of an entire tower… I don’t think they’re done with the scolding. I wouldn’t be surprised if it would lead to suspension when they find the culprit,” James Potter said. It was hard to tell if he was applauding the culprit, aka. you, or felt threatened. Most likely both.

 

  “They’re probably going to start a proper search this year,” Sirius added. And you couldn’t help but note that the teachers never really put a whole lot of effort into finding you. They’d never even gotten close.

 

  “Who do you think did it?” Peter asked, by the sound of it not specifically to anyone. But your stomach turned into knots as you prepared yourself to be outed by Remus.

 

  “I have absolutely no idea,” he said much to your surprise, but you could still feel his eyes boring into the back of your head. With your mouth agape and almost in shock you could see Lily mouthing _What?_ at you.

 

But before you could answer her you were distracted by the teacher entering from a room hidden behind a velvet curtain. The teacher was unfamiliar to you; a chiseled young man, mid-twenties or late thirties but it’s always hard to determine with wizards, dark short curls, black eyes the size of teacups to complement his full lips. He was wearing a robe, but not the long, heavy, velvet robes that touched the ground like lots of the other teachers, but an open patterned kimono to the knee paired with baggy trousers, a tank top, a purple scarf draped around the bag of his neck matched with a pair of sandals.

 

His young and carefree style was like nothing you’d ever seen at Hogwarts. Neither had Lily apparently because you glanced over to her to check if she was thinking the same. And she was. _Hot damn._

 

With a teacup in his hand, he sat down on the desk in the front of the classroom. He scanned his surroundings for a short second and wasn’t a tad bit surprised to see that everyone was completely soaking wet. One could only assume he’d heard or seen the ruckus in the stairwell earlier. He smiled at the students, a genuine smile, a welcoming one, and the room fell quiet “Hello ladies and gents! My name is Alabaster Thibault Ronion. That is Professor Ronion to You or if one is feeling particularly brave then Professor Alabaster will do.” He started pacing back and forth. “Now, can someone tell me what Divination is?”

 

Lily’s hand flew up instantly. A quick nod in her direction and she was spitting out the words faster than a snitch in Quidditch, “Divination is a branch of magic that involves attempting to foresee the future, or gather insights into past, present and future events, through various rituals and tools. It is described as an inexact science, which requires a certain mind and-”

 

Professor Alabaster caught her off by raising her hand, “Right you are, ms.?”

 

  “Evans. Lily Evans,” she said. Pride running through her blood, making her straighten her back and raise her chin.

 

He went on to talk about the various methods of fortune-telling and what our curriculum would be, what subjects we would touch upon and all the other boring stuff.

  At some point, he’d started talking about the technique to crystal-gazing, which was looking into a crystal ball and seeing the future. But you were completely zoned out. Your thoughts drifting back to the water slide prank and the moments that followed.

 

A jolt of pain went through your leg, as Lily kicked you in the shin, quickly bringing you back to reality. You looked at her, quite offended, but she just nodded towards the Professor.

 

  He stood right in front of you, a teacup in one hand, and tarot cards in the next, “May I be allowed to demonstrate?” You had literally no clue what he was talking about, and you didn’t want it to be too evident so you just muttered a ‘sure’ and went along with it.

 

He sat down on the floor, cross-legged and put a pile of tarot cards down on the table between you. Without moving a hand or lifting his wand, five cards flew from the pile and landed in a row in front of you. Then one turned over, depicting a young knight with their sword raised, riding into battle on top of a white horse. But it was upside down.

 

Alabaster Ronion scoffed and look at you with a slight smile, “you’re impulsive-” he stated. And you couldn’t help but agree.

 

  “What more?” You quickly interjected.

 

He let out a chuckle, “The Knight of Swords Reversal means a lot of things, mostly that you’re incredibly impatient, bursting with energy, prone to make rash decisions but lack direction.”

 

You felt a tad bit exposed having your personality revealed to the classroom. At this point, you’d expected at least one snarky comment from the back of the class, but the boys were awfully quiet, making this scene a whole lot more tense than what you had anticipated.

 

The next card flipped over revealing a woman in white who calmly held the jaws of a fully grown lion. Despite the menacing and strong appearance of the lion, the woman seemed to control it. At the bottom of the card, it said ‘Strength’ with bold letters.

 

“You have a courageous heart. A true Gryffindor, I suppose. No issue speaking your mind either. The lion is a symbol of bravery, passion, and desire. All of these are very much essential to survival, but it is necessary to control these _animalistic instincts_ or it will lead to your eventual destruction.” he explained, and you felt blood rush to your cheeks, hoping that it could not be seen in the dim lighting.

 

  The next card turned over and moved so it lay horizontally, unlike the other cards that had either been upside down or facing you. Alabasters eyebrows furrowed in confusion and sent you a puzzled look.

  It was a wolf and a dog howling at the moon. And your face went white. Your thoughts drifting back to the night before. The unknown werewolf leaving a lasting scar on your arm and the absolute fear as you ran. This made the gash on your arm throb, but you shrugged it off as phantom pains as you reminded yourself that Lily healed it.

 

“This is highly unusual.” He said with a tilted head. You didn’t have to look around to know that everyone in the room was leaning forward, all of sudden, more intrigued in the reading. A part of you had forgotten that they were here too. You were so entranced in the reading, it was as if it was only you and him. “On either side of this path stand a wolf and a dog-” he showed the rest of the classroom. “-It represents our animalistic nature - one is civilized, and the other is wild and feral. Since it’s half in reversal it shows a battle within yourself and around you. An attack. An illusion. The hidden truth, that must be discovered. You must search for the hidden forces that must be unraveled. You must deal with your anxiety and fears by overcoming them, for they are like shadows in the dark. Your deep memories and fears must be let go, and the negative energies must be released and turned into something constructive. It is time to believe in yourself and to move forward.”

 

You knew what this meant. The dog must represent you, and your animagus. And if you were to move forward from the incident you had to find out who the bloody werewolf was.

 

The fourth card turned over and it was a depiction of a tower nestled on top of a mountain. A lightning bolt struck the high spire, setting it ablaze. Flames were bursting in the windows and people were jumping out of windows in acts of pure desperation. But the card was reversed.

 

Alabasters jaw clenched for a moment, pondering whether or not to tell you. He continued with the reading; “When you get the Tower card reversed, it means there is a crisis looming, an accident, an attack, and you are struggling against it. But what you do not realize that it may be beneficial in breaking down your reliance on something that is false. Though the destruction will be painful, the humbleness resulting from it can bring peace. Perhaps friendship.” he took a deep breath and spoke the next words quickly, “In this case, it is also the opening of the third eye.”

 

He flipped the next card, barely giving you time to ponder about what the fucking third eye is.

 

“I must admit you are highly interesting,” he said, narrowed eyes on the card that was of five people holding their wands in the air.

 

  Then Sirius Black piped up from the back of the classroom “That’s probably the first time someone has said that to her.” His comment earned a few chuckles from the other guys, but barely any reaction from the pupils who’d all grown up with disruptive behavior from the Marauders.

 

  “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t get that. It seems I am unable to speak idiot,” you said barely even glancing his way. A loud cackle from James Potter filled the room, followed by what sounded like a slap on the arm.

 

Alabaster didn’t say anything, he was probably just one of those rare teachers who just let things play out. However, he did send the boys some harsh eyes, but he was also trying to hide a smile. He looked back at the last card and continued his reading. “Like with most fives in the tarot, this shows some kind of disagreement that is facing the querent, aka. the one who seeks. Which must be you. This disagreement can either be taken to be as a sign of conflict between the men, or that all of them are simply enjoying the adrenaline rush of this conflict, and that the competition amongst them is of a good-natured rivalry, not anger. The relaxed way in which they seem to be holding their wands gives a sense that this argument may be one of show rather than a fierce one.”

 

And with that, the bell rung dismissing class. Alabaster reminded the students, who were leaving the classroom, to read the first chapter of “Unfogging the Future” by Cassandra Vablatsky.  

   On your way down the stairs, you were almost in a trance, trying to figure out the meaning behind the reading.

 

  “What a load of rubbish,” Lily said skeptically, obviously as puzzled as you. “That was completely vague. It could have been about anyone.”

 

A part of you agreed with the vagueness of it, but you couldn’t ignore the truth in it.

 

James, Peter, and Sirius rushed ahead of you. Remus must have left during the class for some reason because he was not with them. Sirius' arm brushed against yours, sending a jolt of pain through your body from your sore wound, making you involuntarily hiss.

 

Lily looked at you, with that well-known worrisome look on her face.

 

  “I’m fine,” you lied, ignoring the growing pain in your arm. You don’t know a lot about healing, but fundamentally it should be going the other way, and not be getting worse.

 

 

 

**(A/N): Thank you for reading! I promise there’s going to happen a lot more in the next chapter, and we’ll see some more Reader/Sirius situations.**

**If anyone is interested in Tarot Card reading I’d like to suggest this website**[ **https://labyrinthos.co/blogs/tarot-card-meanings-list**](https://labyrinthos.co/blogs/tarot-card-meanings-list) **It helped me a lot when I was writing this chapter.**

 


	6. Curiosity Killed the Cat... or Dog

**Curiosity Killed the Cat.**

 

The next period was spent alone basking in the sun by the Great Lake. Lily had Study of Ancient Runes, but you didn’t have any classes at this time. So, although time should be spent reading and studying. You decided to relax with your bare feet in the water, your tie loosened and your shirt buttoned up slightly as to not die from the heat. 

   Your thoughts kept drifting back to the night before. You closed your eyes and let the sun heat your body, your cheeks burning red. 

 

Moments later your eyes shot open from the sound of laughter echoing throughout the lake. You looked to the source and saw James and Sirius and little further down the bank. James was lying on the ground, much like you, resting on his elbows and having a smoke, unlike you. Sirius was leaning against a tree, shirt buttoned up and a loose tie, as always. He too was smoking a cigarette. It was hard to tell what they were laughing about, maybe it was your awkward tarot card reading. You hope not. Maybe they laughed at you because you were lying alone right there like a fool. Then you had to remind yourself that not everything is about you and that you really do not care what they laugh about. You laid back down and closed your eyes again. 

 

   “Hey,” someone said behind you. You sat back up and faced James and Sirius. James had a cigarette behind his ear, reminding you of Kenickie from Grease, the hit movie of the summer. 

 

   “I’m busy right now-” you lied back down on the ground and closed your eyes- “Can I ignore you some other time?”

 

   “You don’t look busy,” Sirius said, flopping down beside you. 

 

  You pushed yourself to a sitting position, ignoring the pain in your arm and faced the boys. Letting out a deep sigh. “What do you want?” 

 

   “I need some advice,” James said. 

 

   “High and mighty Potter needs advice from me?” You scoffed, wondering what the hell he was on about. 

 

   “It’s about Lily but damn woman why do you hate us so much?”

 

For a moment you couldn’t quite recall exactly why you hated them. They were just so bloody arrogant all the time. Just prancing about the castle like they owned the place. Also, it might have something to do with the fact that James Potter tripped you in the hallway on the very first day of school. It was very humiliating, and even though it’s seven years ago you still hold a grudge.  

 

   “I don’t hate you… I just strongly dislike you,”

 

   Sirius looked at you, leaning in a bit, obviously trying that  _ infamous _ Black charm on you. To no success. “Is that how you really feel about us? About me?” he said in a low voice, a slight smirk on his lips. 

 

And for a fleeting moment you wanted to say “no”. 

 

   “I would show you how I really feel about you,” you said, your eyes flickering to his lips for just a second to play along with his games. Then you leaned back, ”but sadly I do not have enough middle fingers to adequately express those feelings.”

 

   Sirius looked taken aback, but James let out a short laugh, “Feelings? What a surprise! I didn’t know you had those, (Y/N).”

 

   “Well, you don’t know a lot of things, so it’s not really a surprise then, is it?” you said with a tightness in your voice. 

 

   “I really just wanted some advice about Lily. Why does it always have to be such a battle of wits with you?” James inquired, looking to Sirius, who simply just shrugged. They were both trying to play cool but it was obvious that they were amused. 

 

   “I’d hardly call it a  **battle** of wits when you are clearly so unarmed in the matter,” you said to James. Which caused Sirius, who was sitting next to you, to throw his head back in a laugh. But this movement made his leg jolt, causing your shoes to tumble into the water. 

 

You rushed to them and picked them up, but it was too late. They were drenched!

   “You bloody idiot!” your face turned red with rage as you turned to him.

 

His eyes were nearly watering, and his lips were twitching in a struggle not to laugh. But he saw your face and immediately he just burst down laughing with James. 

 

You started to repeatedly hit him with the shoes, ignoring the pain it caused your own wounded arm. 

 

   Sirius held up his hands in defense, but, to your dismay, James was quick to intervene and hold you back from beating him up any further.

 

   “I’m sorry!” Sirius sheepishly threw his hands up in defeat; his hair ruffled from the fight- “I’m sorry. It was an accident, okay?”

 

   “An accident? You kicked my shoes into the fucking water! They’re drenched!” You pointed your finger at him vigorously. 

 

   Sirius let out an exasperated sigh, as he took a step closer to you, narrowing his eyes. “ _ They’re drenched _ ?” he said in disbelief. And for a moment he looked properly angry.  “I’M DRENCHED! You flung all that water onto me when you hit me with those bloody things. We’re even!” He added. 

 

   “Even? Even!? I have to walk through the damn castle in bare feet! So what if you got a little water on your shirt… There’s only one way to make this even,” your voice lowered, as a thought occurred. “Take off your shoes,” you demanded.

 

   “What- NO!” he exclaimed; unwilling to let you throw his shoes into the lake. 

 

   “It is only fair.” You raised an eyebrow at him. 

 

   “Look, I’m sorry. It really was an accident,” he tried to charm you with his award-winning smile. Luckily, you’re more stubborn than he is handsome. “Mate… help me out here.” He looked to James, who idly stood by, enjoying himself.

 

   “I’m with her. Your clumsy mess got you into this. You have to get yourself out of it,” he said with a nod in your direction. Odd. You did not expect him to back you up. But in this case, you took what you could get. 

 

   “I am not letting you throw my shoes into the water,” he said in such a manner that you knew you’d have to pry the shoes off his dead body if you were to ever get them. For a second, you imagined that possibility and quite liked it. Naturally, you couldn’t kill him with this many witnesses though. “But…” He continued, taking a deep breath- “I do feel bad. So, if you jump on my back I will take you to class.”

 

Your mouth stood agape. “What? No. Not happening,” you shook your head.

 

   “Yes. It is,” he said, taking a step closer to you. “-Get on my back,”

 

   “Absolutely not,”

 

   “Please? I really am sorry,” he was still getting closer to you, so in response, you slowly started backing away. 

 

   “Alright, Black, you’re forgiven. Now, leave me alone,” you said, standing your ground and crossing your arms in an attempt to seem steadfast.

 

However, this didn’t stop him and in one swift move, he swung you over his shoulder. “Sorry, (Y/L/N), but you know I cannot do that. My gentleman nature forbids me to do so,” he said, and you could almost hear that smug smile of his. 

 

You started kicking and then hitting your fists against his back. Pretty quickly it proved futile. Your legs were pretty much up in the air and your head was upside down. Thank Merlin your skirt covered what it needed to cover because his hand was dangerously close to your backside.

 

   “There is not an ounce of a gentleman in you! Now would you put me down!? This is very undignifying” You were practically yelling at him, as he was trudging towards the castle, with James by his side, carrying your stuff. 

 

   “Nope.” He stated, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of him calling himself a gentleman whilst forcibly carrying you with your butt in the air. 

 

As much as you hated to admit it, you didn’t particularly have that much against it. Something about his soft, yet tight, grip was assuring to you. Made you feel safe. He was still an idiot, so he mustn’t ever know that. “Do you ever bathe? You stink of cigarettes and leather,” but really he didn’t stink at all. He had a distinct scent of marzipan, leather, motor oil, and smoke - but not cigarette smoke, it was more like a campfire. He smelt like the summer nights you’ve had with your friends around the flames, like an antique car, and like pudding. There was also a slight smell of wet dog in the mix, but you figured that was you and decided not to bring it up.

 

   Sirius disregarded your comment, “So where are we going? What’s your next class, love?” 

 

   “Apparition,” you said in defeat. He had reached the outside stairs that led to the castle, and although he visibly tried to climb them gracefully, it was a very wobbly affair. It felt as though all blood was rushing to your head, and your stomach was pressing against his shoulder, where he was carrying you, making it very uncomfortable. 

 

   “I didn’t know those classes were available this year,” James said, obviously regretting not signing up for them. It’s a given that almost everyone thinks teleporting is cool, however, a lot of people don’t take the classes due to the fact that apparition is considered quite dangerous if you don’t do it properly. But something told you that James most likely wouldn’t turn down something because it was deemed dangerous.  

 

   “Yeah- It’s the first apparition class for like 8 years I think. There’s usually not a lot who take it and Hogwarts has to get someone from the Ministry out here so they only bother making a class if there are more than fifteen students who sign up,” you said, but quickly stopped yourself as you realized what was happening. Chit-chatting. You were chit-chatting with the two people, whom you hate the most at this school. How on Earth did this come to happen...

 

Before you had reached the Great Hall, where the Apparition classes took place, Sirius had switched his means of carrying you. Due to the fact that you rightfully kept complaining about dizziness. So, instead of you hanging upside down, you were now riding his back, earning a few glances from your fellow students. Mostly girls, whom five of you could have sworn you’d seen him snog at some point through the years. But it’s hard to keep count when there’s such a vast number of girls at this school whose at some point had something going with Sirius. After all, he was the school’s heartthrob. Thank Merlin that you’re immune to his charms.  

 

   “Where’s Remus?” you asked, quite randomly. But your thoughts kept drifting back to his odd appearance in the tower, and then his disappearance during Divination. 

 

James exchanged a look with Sirius, before clearing his throat, “he isn’t feeling well. He was supposed to stay in the infirmary all day but he snuck out early, and now Madam Pomfrey won’t let him go for at least another day or two.” he said, straining himself to smile and make the situation lighter. And although his reply didn’t seem completely unrealistic it didn’t exactly sound like the whole truth. And you wanted to poke further, but James diverted the topic to the new Divination professor, Alabaster, in an obvious attempt to stop you from asking more questions regarding Remus. And you did have a lot of questions regarding Remus, however, most of them were to him specifically. Like, why didn’t he tell the guys about you? And how did he know about the secret door? Why was he limping?

 

But you couldn’t ask him any of those questions, because he would be in the infirmary for perhaps two days even. Although you do have a lot of virtues, patience, is not one of them. Which meant you had to sneak out.

 

———————————

 

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Apparition wasn’t nearly as fun as you’d hoped, due to the fact that you were merely learning about the theory behind it for at least the next week to come.

A somewhat out of breath Sirius had apologized again before dropping you off at the class, but all you did was shrug it off.

 

As always, you were seated at the Gryffindor table but your mind seemed to be everywhere else which made you miss your mouth as you tried to eat some of the pudding, causing Lily to snort in laughter, bringing you back to reality. 

 

While you devoured the delicious food on your plate, you asked Lily about one of the new teachers. A lot of the witches and wizards’ families were targeted by some dark wizard so many chose to stay at home and not go to Hogwarts this year, apparently that also applied to some of the teachers and thus... replacements had to be found. One of them was Alabaster, whose lesson you quite enjoyed. But you chose not to ask about him.

 

Instead, you gestured to a lanky woman with raven black hair in a tight bun who was sitting next to him. 

 

   “Who’s that?”

 

Lily sighed, picking at her food. “Ugh. Professor Voclain. She is the new Ghoul Studies teacher. She was a Defense Against Dark Arts teacher at Beauxbatons but the rumor is she got fired. Apparently, she’s evil and totally bonkers. She’s already taken 50 points from Gryffindor,” she quickly added. 

 

You groaned, putting your head in your hands, wondering why Dumbledore would ever hire her in the first place. Mentally shunning yourself. “I have Ghoul Studies this year…”

 

   “-What? No! Seriously? You’re going to cost us all our house points,” Mary interjected.

 

You threw a cookie at her, “Hey! I can behave,” you said. “Of course it would be easier if anyone of you also has Ghoul Studies, you know, to keep me in check?” You looked to Lily, Mary, and Marlene who all just shook their heads.  _ Damn it. _

 

   “Sorry, love, you’re on your own in this one,” Lily said apologetically, but then as if a light bulb had appeared at the top of her head she got an idea, “but hey, Sirius and Remus are taking it! I’m sure you could sit with them.”

 

   “I’d rather undergo the cruciatus curse,” you said, rolling your eyes. 

 

Marlene abruptly got up from the table and left without a word.  _ Was it something you said? _

 

As your eyes followed her leaving the hall, you noticed Sirius was sitting a little further down with the other guys. They were laughing at something James was saying. You really hoped it had nothing to do with you and the Wet Shoes Story. 

 

Sirius caught your eye and you quickly looked the other way. Blushing. Dammit, he probably thought you’d been staring at him for a while. 

 

“How did you know they have Ghoul Studies? Don’t tell me you’ve been exchanging love letters with them as well…”

 

Lily chuckled and informed you that she’d met James in the hallway and just started talking, and apparently, all the information she had on Professor Voclain was from him, so you should probably not be too quick to judge her if that’s the source of truth. She then threw a muffin at you, insisting that “it is not love letters!”

 

Before you could retaliate, Dumbledore rose from his seat. He raised his hand and the room fell quiet, so quickly one could suspect him of using a silencing spell.

 

He then proceeded to tell everyone that the people responsible for the flooding should come forward and that they would enforce a proper search to find the culprit. But that’s what he has said almost every year and it has never amounted to anything, so you didn’t care to fuzz too much about it. The speech signaled an end to dinner and everyone started filling out of the Hall. 

 

You got up and the world spun. Black and white spots danced before your eyes, freezing you for a moment. In fear of passing out, your sluggish arms went out to find the tabletop to keep yourself up. You stood there a couple of seconds. Light-headed. Waiting for your vision to come back and it did. The first thing you saw was Lily standing next to you, with furrowed eyebrows. 

 

   “I’m fine.”

 

She tilted her head.

 

   “I’m fine. I swear. I just got up too quickly,” you insisted. Not wanting to make a big fuss out of it. 

 

   “If you can’t walk I’m sure I can get Sirius to carry you to the dorm,” she said, raising an eyebrow. 

 

   “What?” you stammered. At first, really confused about what she meant. Until realization hit you. “How did you find out about that?”

 

   “Oh Please. Don’t you think it has everyone talking when the school’s heartthrob carries a girl to class?” she said rhetorically. 

 

   “I- it wasn’t like that.”

 

You then proceeded to tell her the full story of the Wet Shoes, having to stop a couple of times, as she had trouble hearing it over the sound of her own laughter. It also offered itself as a good distraction, she was no longer worried about you passing out. Win-win. 

 

———————————

 

As you were changing clothes you saw that your wound hadn’t gotten any better, (actually, significantly worse) but decided to ignore it for now. You had a mission in mind. 

 

Dressed in your pajamas; a pair of loose red plaid sweatpants, and a grey long-sleeved shirt that hugged your figure paired with some fuzzy socks. You snuck out of the empty Gryffindor common room and into the dark hallway. 

 

Your mission was to ask Remus some questions, and if there was time, then you’d do some research in regards to your inflamed arm. 

 

   “What I don’t get is if it is a werewolf then why doesn’t Dumbledore know about it? Surely if he did he wouldn’t allow her to run around in the woods…” a hushed disembodied voice said.

 

You stopped moving entirely and did your best to listen in. It was the same voice from the other night. 

 

   “And if it isn’t a werewolf why haven’t they reported it yet? Remus says no one has been to the infirmary yet,” another voice said. Also from the other night.

 

The voices were moving further away from you so you did your best to follow them. Tip-toeing your way through the dark. 

 

   “Maybe they don’t go to Hogwarts?”

 

   “Shut it, Wormtail, of course, they go to Hogwarts. We found the Gryffindor robes,”

 

That’s when you recognized the voice. It was James bloody Potter! Holy shit. How were you not able to tell that any sooner, the arrogance was so prominent in the voice. Which meant that the others were Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black… Remus Lupin must be the werewolf that attacked you. 

 

Your mind was whirling with thoughts and feels as if a thousand things had suddenly been crammed into it. It wasn’t the best feeling, especially not combined with the constant dizziness caused by your wounded arm. 

 

How did you not figure that out any sooner? Stupid. You thought back to your Latin course… Doesn’t Lupin literally mean wolf? You’d always prided yourself in your intelligence. Obviously, you weren’t as Lily but you certainly thought you were close to it. Now, you weren’t so sure. 

 

Caught up in your own thoughts, you turned a corner and was immediately slammed against a wall. A wand to your throat. Light blinding you. You pushed the wand emitting the light away from your face. Damn Lumos spell. Your eyes slowly adjusted. But the vision was still blurry. 

 

   “If you wanted to pin me against a wall that bad you could’ve just asked,  _ Blue _ ,” you said to Sirius Black, managing a slight smirk. Ignoring the way his eyes fleetingly fell upon your lips.

 

   “You’re not Snivellus,” Peter Pettigrew said from beside him.

 

   “Observant as ever.”

 

Sirius held you in your bad arm and you did your best to keep up a brave front but it hurt like hell. So you clenched your jaw tight to not let out a grunt of pain. He then looked you up and down, noting that you were in your pajamas. “Why are you following us?”

 

For a second, you thought about saying the truth, but in all honesty, you didn’t quite trust them. “I’m not. I’m just headed to the kitchens for a midnight snack. Now let go of me” you said with as must venom as you could muster, ripping your arm out of his grip. 

 

Bad idea. 

 

_ Bloody hell  _ that was a bad idea. If you thought the pain in your arm was bad before it is nothing compared to now. The wound must have been ripped open because it felt a lot warmer all of a sudden. You needed to get out there. To Lily. 

 

James' eyebrows rose quickly, “The kitchens are the other way- hey are you okay?” all of sudden, he looked at your arm with concern, as did the others. Blood was practically spilling from it, staining your grey shirt. But it was hard to see with your eyesight going out of whack. Black spots consumings your sight. Nausea taking over your body, like a thick warm blanket suffocating you. 

 

   “Is that blood?” Peter’s quivering voice asked. But at this point, you had a hard time staying a foot. Or even hearing. It was as if your hands were covering your ears. Everything sounded so muffled. 

 

   “No?” 

 

Your shaky hands went to cover the wound. Sirius’ grabbed your arm to steady you. 

 

   “You’re not supposed to answer that with another question, darling,” Sirius said, he looked almost frozen as he stared at you with wide eyes. Concerned? An odd reaction from him, you thought. 

 

   “It’s nothing, okay?” you said, but your words were slurring, “Tis but a scratch,” 

 

The room spun around, and everything went black. Your body going limb. Someone caught you before you hit the ground. Strong arms. Marzipan, leather, and smoke.

 

Your head was bobbing into a shoulder, as whoever carried you ran. Voices were all around you but you couldn’t tell what they were saying. A wand tapped your wound. And the feeling of bandages wrapping your arm followed. Momentarily stopping the bleeding and slightly relieving you of the pain. 

 

   “Did it work?”

 

   “I don’t know ferula usually works faster.”

 

   “Hurry, we have to get her to the infirmary.”

 

   “Lay her here.”

 

The voices were all blending together. All indistinctive. You felt your back hit a mattress. You blinked slightly until your eyes were open, yet, your vision was still as if they were almost closed. A bunch of heads seemed to hover above you, behind them you could see the ceiling of the infirmary. 

 

   “Someone get Madam Pomfrey!” one of the heads yelled.

 

This woke you up. 

 

    “No!” You said, grabbing the nearest person by the collar, Remus? pulling him close to your face and tried to speak as clearly as you could through gritted teeth. “No. Bloody. Teachers!” 

 

Your vision went black again, from the sudden movement, and you could feel yourself falling out of consciousness but you were just able to murmur “Not teachers. I. Azkaban.”

 

   “Is anyone going to argue with that? Cause I’m not.” James said. 

 

A hectic discussion followed but no footsteps echoed in the infirmary so they must have settled on not ratting you out. 

 

There was a sound of clothing tearing followed by a cooling sensation on your arm and a sudden silence in the room. 

 

   “That’s my claw marks. I- I did that…” Remus stammered. 

 

   “I love you and all, Moony, but now is not the time for a guilt trip.”

 

   “Sorry, Paddy,” he said, but he still sounded very troubled. “Get a mixture of powdered silver and dittany, it is the only way to seal the wound! Peter, you can get to the potions lair the fastest, go now!” Remus quickly added. 

 

Your eyes blinked open once again, just in time to see the boy turn into a rat. Hallucinations too? You’re really losing it now. 

 

   “Hey-,” someone said, trying to get your attention, “try to stay awake. It’s gonna be okay, you’re going to be okay.” Sirius then used his thumb to wipe away a trail of tears running down the side of your face. You hadn’t noticed you’d cried. It must have happened sometime when you were unconscious. 

 

During the wait of Peter, they started discussing what to do. Remus still thought it best to get a teacher, but James and Sirius disagreed. Your mind felt like mush and you couldn’t tell if it was out of respect for your decision or because they were afraid. If a teacher found out they might expel Remus. Or worse. 

 

You wanted to say that you wouldn’t rat him out. After all, you owe him that much for not ratting you out earlier. But you knew that if you tried to speak through your gritted teeth, then your voice would come out as nothing more than a meek croak. 

 

Instead, you waited patiently until Peter returned with the mixture. 

 

   “(Y/N)? This next part is going to hurt, but it will be much better afterward, okay?” Remus said, now holding the mixture in his hand. “Ready?”

 

You simply nodded in response. 

 

Then the most painful pain you’ve ever felt in your life followed. 

 

You tried to hold it in. You really did. But you screamed anyways. 

 

All of a sudden, the hand of four guys simultaneously covered your mouth. And you had to fight a childish urge to lick their palm. 

 

But it was too late. You heard the pair of footsteps running towards the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey was surely awake now. 

 

Next thing happened so fast. You were pushed off the bed, and onto the floor, landing on top of Sirius followed by James who covered all with a blanket. It was very thin, translucent, actually. You didn’t try to make sense of it, because it didn’t. 

 

You could see through it. Under the bed was a rat. Very close to your head and you had to resist an urge to scream again. 

 

Sirius must have seen your eyes widen because he suddenly held a finger to his lips. Gesturing you to be quiet.  _ Yeah, no shit.  _

 

__ “What in Merlin’s beard is going on?” An exasperated Madam Pomfrey called out as she hastily entered the infirmary, rushing to Remus’ side. 

 

   “Sorry,” Remus said. You couldn’t see him from where you were but he sounded so tense. “I- It must have been a bad dream.” 

 

   “It sounded as if a girl was screaming,” she said accusingly. 

 

   “Madam Pomfrey, that’s not nice!  I simply have a high pitched scream, that shouldn’t make me any less of a man” Remus tried to sound as offended and innocent as possible through his distress. 

 

She seemed to realize what she had said cause she immediately apologized and went back to her quarters. 

 

You had to stifle a laugh. As did James and Sirius. You now had the surplus to notice their close proximity to you. Your head was right next to Sirius, as you laid on top of him, your chest pressed against his. Practically, breathing in the same air.

 

James was kind of hovering above you, holding the cloak that seemed to be concealing you. 

 

The pain had been reduced to that of a stinging sensation like you were being slapped by a belt repeatedly. In a none kinky way of course. 

 

Then, once again, all the voices became one and everything was swallowed up by darkness. 


	7. The Morning After

**The Morning After**

 

You woke up groggily in your bed back in your dorm room, and for a second you wondered if last night had just been a strangely vivid dream. But no. It wasn’t a dream. And this wasn’t even your dorm. The stench of teenage boys gave it away. 

 

Almost as if on cue, three heads popped into your field of vision, hovering above you. James. Sirius. Peter. It took you a couple of minutes to get seated but it would probably have taken a lot longer if the boys hadn’t helped you. 

 

Sirius’ hand was on your shoulder to steady you. 

 

Peter sat beside you with a glass of water in his right hand and a bar of chocolate in the other one. “Here you go, have some of this.”

 

You looked at it skeptically. Shifting glances all around the room.

 

   “I would eat that fast if I were you. Peter doesn’t usually share his sweets.” Sirius said. You then pretty much chugged the water and it felt so good. You had probably never been this dehydrated before in your life. 

 

A couple of drops spilled onto your shirt. Your shirt? No- no. This wasn’t your shirt. This was a much too large shirt for you. Oh no. Realization dawned on you. 

 

   “Did- did you undress me?” You said - horrified as you pictured them seeing you shirtless - your face instantaneously turned red.

 

They exchanged a look. 

 

   “We did-”

 

   “Bloody hell!”

 

   “We did but I swear to you it was only the top and only because it was necessary,” James said, scratching the back of his head. 

 

   “It was a lot more awkward for us than it was for you I imagine.”

 

   “We truly did our best not to look too.” Sirius said, “Our at least they did.” Then, the cheeky bastard winked at you. 

 

Your face was flushed and you quickly crossed your arms. Either in embarrassment or in an attempt to preserve whatever pride you had left. Which wasn’t much.

 

“Come on, it’s not like it was something I hadn’t seen before,” he added, referring to the see-through incident in the Divination Tower. 

 

This made you literally smack him over the head, causing the two others to snort with laughter.

 

“Merlin’s beard woman! It was a joke, we used a Switching Spell.”

 

You let out a sigh of relief. 

 

   “How is your arm?” James asked, pushing his glasses up with his finger. 

 

You assessed it quickly, and the death-is-imminent sort of pain had vanished, along with the overwhelming dizziness that accompanied it, instead of that, there now was a much more manageable throbbing. 

   While you were grateful for their help and surprised that they hadn’t told a teacher, you still didn’t want to stay here for too long. 

 

   “Much better, thank you. But I should probably go now. Lily must be worried sick.” You rushed, getting up from the bed, but your path was quickly blocked by the boys.

 

   “Not quite yet, there are still a lot of questions to be answered,” James said, crossing his arms. “Are you a werewolf?”

 

   “What?” you scoffed. What the hell was he on about? “No, you idiot!”

 

   “Then what were you doing in the Forbidden Forest? Why didn’t you want us to get a teacher? Why did you say you would go to Azka-”   
  


   “That is none of your concern.” You cut him off before he got too far in his game of 20 questions. 

 

   “Given that we just saved your life and put our asses on the line for you I take it that it is very much our concern. So unless you want to be turned in to Dumbledore then I suggest you tell us  _ everything _ ,” Sirius said, closing in on you. 

 

You slowly backed away but this just made you flump down on the bed again. Suddenly, the three boys stood a lot taller than you did, probably in an attempt to seem intimidating. 

 

You took a deep breath, “I suppose I do owe you the truth.”

 

The boys looked triumphant. Leaning in closer to you, anticipating the story. 

 

You licked your lips, “...but if you want me to tell you then I also need you to tell me what exactly is going on with you lads.” You got comfortable on the bed. So far they’d had the upper hand, but you probably knew more than they did. Now, you had to trick them into a game of  _ I’ll show you mine if you show me yours _ .

 

   “Like we’d ever tell you.” James shook his head.

 

   “You guys are animagi, aren’t you?” 

 

Their mouths fell right open, and their widened eyes exchanged several looks between each other, giving away the answer. 

 

“That’s what I thought,” you said confidently, leaning back on the bed. “Wormtail. Padfoot. And Prongs.” you gestured to them individually. 

 

   “How did you know?” 

 

   “I used my keen woman’s brain... Also, I overheard some of your conversations and put two and two together,” you quickly added.

 

They took a couple of steps backward as if in disbelief. 

 

“Don’t worry, Your secret is safe with me because…” You took a deep breath, thinking about not telling them but fair is fair. “So am I.”

 

If you thought they were in shock before it was nothing compared to the looks on their faces now. Their eyes were so wide you thought they’d surely pop out of the sockets as realization dawned on their faces. 

 

You then proceeded to tell them everything about the night two days ago. (Leaving out the part where you were naked, naturally.)

 

   “So… what animal are you?” Peter asked. 

 

   “Dog.”

 

James snickered. “A bitch? Really? Didn’t see that coming.”

 

This caused the other boys to laugh as well, and your mouth simple just fell agape. 

 

   “Careful, James, this bitch bites,” you said with narrowed eyes. “What are you guys?”

 

   “A stag,” James said proudly. Quite fitting, really. King of the Forest goes well with King of Hogwarts. 

 

   “Rat,” Peter added, fidgeting with something in his hand. He didn’t seem proud of it like James. More embarrassed really. You probably would be too if you were a rodent.  

 

Your eyes fell on Sirius, his were already on you. “A dog as well,” he said, taking a deep breath. “And Remus is-”

 

   “-A werewolf.” you interrupted, to relieve him of the pressure of having to say it himself. You could clearly see it pained him. “I know.”   
  


   “Are you going to tell Dumbledore about the attack?”

 

   “Of course not, you dimwit, it was my fault more than his. Either way, I did something quite illegal too.” You smiled. The tension in the room seemed to disappear with that, and they responded with light-hearted smiles. 

 

You sat with them for a little while, just talking. It felt quite natural in a way. Like, perhaps they weren’t such dicks after all. They were all kind of sprawled out in different locations in the room. One on the floor, one on a bed, one leaning against a bedpost. You sat on Remus’ bed which you imagined had been neatly made before you were dumped on it. Well, not dumped per se. More like, carefully placed upon. They had been kind and gentle to you. Unexpected.

 

In all honesty, they looked rather cute too. Peter and James had the worst bedhead hair you’d ever seen, locks just sticking out in odd places. Although that was pretty much what James’ hair looked like every day. As if it hadn’t been combed in years. 

 

Although, Sirius looked as if he hadn’t been able to sleep a brink last night then his hair was only slightly ruffled which just added volume to his already voluminous mane. Effortlessly hot. He really was the worst. The t-shirt that he slept in didn’t exactly make him hideous either. In fact, it rather clung to his chest. A chest which was a lot more defined than you initially would have guessed. 

 

Your cheeks started burning. 

 

   “Are you okay?” Peter asked.

 

   “What?” 

 

   “Just… you looked… I don’t know. Feverish?” 

 

The blushing in your cheeks faded almost immediately after you stopped looking at Sirius. But as you were shifting glances all around the room, they evidently fell on him again. And he looked as if he was trying to suppress a grin. Shit. He had probably seen you ogling his pecs. You creep. You mentally hit yourself over the head. And took it as your cue to leave. 

 

   “It’s- It’s just because of the wound,” you lied. 

 

The trip down the stairs wasn’t too bad, it was climbing the stairs to the girls' dormitory that was the issue. It was nauseating to say the least. 

 

Upon entering your room you were instantly met by Lily Evans, who’s hair matched her temper. 

 

   “Where on Earth have you been!?” She yelled, wacking you on your arm. The good one, fortunately. 

 

You instantly put your hands up defensively. “Woah Woah, I was just... It’s a long story. Where do you want me to-”

 

   “-MERLIN’S BEARD! Did you shag Sirius Black?” Her hands flew up to her mouth in shock.

 

Justly you were as shocked as she was. 

 

Or repulsed.

 

   “What-? No, of course not!”

 

She then gestured towards your chest, with raised, accusing ass eyebrows. “Is that so? Because your shirt is monogrammed S.B. aka. Sirius Black. And it better not be Samwell Buchstein from Hufflepuff because he is just downright disgusting. He openly picks his nose in class. He’s like 17. But on the other hand, then I do hear he has a crush on you-”

 

   “Lily.” You interrupted, getting her attention. “You’re ranting. Let me talk for a change.”

 

She then gladly shut her mouth in anticipation of a good story. You did tell the best ones usually. Mary and Marlene were still asleep as to keep it so you used a silencing spell as you recounted last night to Lily. Leaving out the part where Remus was the werewolf. 

 

That wasn’t your secret to tell. 

 

But with one mystery solved, you still had another one left.

 

What in the bloody hell did the new hot Professor mean with the ‘opening of your third eye’? And why was he so uncomfortable about it. 

 

—————

 

When Monday came the next day it went by quite uneventfully. Remus was still in the hospital, and probably wouldn’t be out till the next day. The other boys were back to being their normal, loud, and obnoxious self. You had herbology, potions, and charms with them that day so there were no escaping them. However, Lily kept you company and she could easily focus on school so that helped.

 

As always, you sucked at Potions. Lily excelled - as she did in every class - and she was probably the only reason you were able to pass that class. So, as every previous year you didn’t count on getting into Slug Club. You also had a faint feeling that Professor Slughorn disliked you. Possibly, because you were an unremarkable muggleborn, and his elite club had a proclivity to purebloods. Lily, being a rare case. 

 

Tuesday did not go by as quietly.

 

You didn’t have anything first period which allowed you to just chill. You did however have the weirdest dream involving James and Lily - not one you want to get into details about - but you shrugged it off as your mind playing tricks on you.

 

Your second period was Ghoul Studies in the Serpentine Corridor. Lily, however, had Advanced Arithmancy. As did James, probably because Lily did. 

 

You didn’t particularly know anyone in this class so it came to no surprise that you sat alone. 

 

The classroom itself was quite small, it could probably house only twelve students or so. Unfortunately, one of those twelve students were Sirius Black.

 

Another was Remus.

 

Lily had told you they were in that class too, but you’d freezed it out of your brain with everything going on. But they were kind enough to remind you as they plopped down in the seats next to you. One on each side. 

 

For a second, you were about to ask what the hell they wanted but you were momentarily stunned. 

 

Remus was the first to speak up.

 

   “I’m so sorry. About- about what I did. I never sho-“

 

   “Remus,” you interrupted and looked straight at him. You didn’t particularly like interrupting people but he needed to hear this. “It was my fault more than yours if anything. I went into the Forbidden Forrest, if you hadn’... something else might have… attacked me. Besides you didn’t exactly leave there unscathed either”

 

   “Your fault?” He said as if you’d told him that the Earth was flat. “You only defended yourself.  _ I _ attacked  _ you _ . You’re going to have that scar for the rest of your life. Why aren’t you angry at me?”

 

You hadn’t thought about the permanence of the scar yet. In all honesty, you’d figured it would disappear eventually. Injuries in the Wizarding World usually didn’t last for long but it was probably different considering this scar was from a werewolf. You didn’t know that much about them but still enough to know that Remus was a victim of a curse far beyond his control. And to hell with everything if you couldn’t make that clear to him.

 

   “You weren’t you. Simple as that. If you can convince me that you attacked me because you wanted to- then I will consider getting angry. Until then: you’re forgiven.” You raised your eyebrows at him, in anticipation of a response. He didn’t give you one. Instead he seemed dumbfounded at what you’d told him. “Besides-“ you added. “I like to think that the scar makes me look cool.”

 

   “You’re going to need more than a scar to accomplish that, (Y/L/N)” Sirius smugly joined in from the side.

 

   “Shove it, Red.” Apparently, your nicknames for him had expanded from Blue to the other various colours on the spectrum.

 

He brought his hand to his chest, in mock offence. He was probably thinking about another snarky comment but he didn’t get a chance as the teacher walked in. Professor Voclain. As lanky as ever. Her hair pulled into such a tight bun that she probably had a constant headache. She sure acted like she did.

 

   “Quiet!” she demanded in a heavy french accent. Her narrowed eyes scanned the classroom, like an eagle looking for prey. She gave no one time to settle in as she walked to the blackboard and wrote ‘Professor Voclain’ in perfect cursive. She then went on to speak about the nature of Ghoul Studies and how it focused on ghouls, ghosts, poltergeists, and other monsters. “Any questions?”

 

Sirius was the first to speak up. Without raising his hand, naturally.

   “Excuse me,  _ mademoiselle _ . Are you single? If you are- I would love to show you around Hogsmeade” he said, in that charming voice of his he often used. The other girls in the room practically swooned just looking at him. 

   You, however, had to resist an urge not to hit him, knowing that little stunt would most definitely cost house points. What the hell was he trying to accomplish? Attention? Rattle her cage? Or was he actually interested in her? She certainly was an attractive woman. If people liked a ballerina-like-body, tall, thin, good posture. Her face was stern, however, and held little joy to Sirius’ comment. 

 

   “Five points from Gryffindor. Dumb questions and class clowns are not tolerated in my class.” If Sirius’ intention was to unnerve her he had been proven unsuccessful. Completely unbothered she turned back to the blackboard and began scribbling something on it.

 

   “Well, there goes half your personality.” you muttered to Sirius who still had that smug looking face of his.

 

   “Neither are snarky comments,” Professor Voclain said, narrowing her eagle eyes at you. “Ms.?”

 

    “(Y/L/N).” you answered. You did your best to ignore how all the attention was suddenly on you but it didn’t work and a heat rose in your cheeks.

 

   “5 points from Gryffindor,” she said. Your Gryffindor classmates groaned. “You may thank ms. (Y/L/N) for that.”

 

Remus looked at you apologetically but Sirius shot you a triumphant look. Tosser.

 

Professor Voclain waved her wand and the stacked books on her table floated through the classroom and were placed neatly in front of every student. 

   It was a thick black book with bold letters writing out “ **Ghouls: How to Determine and Exterminate Them, a Guide by:** _Aelius Astrophel_ ” 

 

   “In the first chapter, you will learn about one of the most fearsome, dangerous, and downright disgusting creatures in the Wizarding World.” She stepped aside revealing what she’d written on the blackboard. “the infamous werewolf.” 

 

   “Fuck off.” you blurted out. Everyone was as shocked as you were. You had no idea where that had come from, you’d never told a teacher off like that. Your hand went to cover your mouth. But it was too late and everyone looked on in horror as Professor Voclain stared you down. 

 

   “I beg your pardon…?” she’d seemed as if nothing could rattle her. You clearly had. She looked like a ticking bomb that was about to go off.

 

   “I believe she was talking to me,” Sirius quickly stood up. Now, he was the one to surprise you. What the hell was he doing? You’d clearly said it to her, even he must know that. Had he attempted diffuse the situation and save the house some points?

 

It proved futile. Because she didn’t subtract house points. She did something much worse.

 

   “Well, in that case, Mr Black,” she said, regaining her composure. “You may join her in detention. For the rest of the semester.”


	8. 8. Another One Bites the Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Reader passes out and ends up in the Hospital Wing

  1. **8\. Another One Bites the Dust**



 

Needless to say, you weren’t in the best mood for the rest of the day. Professor Voclain had called upon you and Sirius at the end of the period when everyone was leaving and informed you, that you would both be spending the fourth period every _week scrubbing_  trophies in the trophy room for the rest of the semester. Which really sucked because neither you nor Lily had a class in the fourth period on Thursdays so you’d really been looking forward to spending that time with her. Guess not. 

 

Sirius was on your heels as you left the room to go to lunch. But you didn’t feel like talking to him so you just kept on walking hastily down the empty corridor. 

 

   “What was that about?” He called out, trying to catch up with you without losing his cool-guy-stride and composure.

 

   “What?” You didn’t bother turning around. Mostly because your face was burning red with embarrassment. Or anger?

 

   “What do you think? You telling Voclain to fuck off”

 

   “You.” you turned around so abruptly that you almost collided into his chest, but the finger you pointed at him made sure there was a presentable distance. “- do not get to judge me about being disrespectful to a teacher.”

 

   “ _Judge_ _you_?” he said incredulously as if he didn’t believe what you were saying. “I was trying to help you! A little gratitude would be nice.”

 

   “I didn’t ask you to do that!” Why did he do it? Maybe it was because you’d said it in defence of Remus and that he felt some responsibility to back you up or mayb-

 

   “And I see now that I shouldn’t have.” 

 

With that last blow, he walked ahead of you, not bothering to spare you another glance, and left you dumbstruck in the corridor. 

   An empty pit seemed to manifest in your stomach. You felt guilty. As you should. You’d told a teacher to fuck off and lashed out at Sirius when all he had done was trying to help you. What was going on? Why were you acting like this? And more importantly- why was he?

 

Everyone was already eating when you arrived in the Great Hall for lunch. And you were met with a lot of stares as you walked towards Lily, Mary, and Marlene who all stopped whatever conversation they were having, probably about you, as you sat down next to them.

 

   “Is it true?” Mary said in a hushed voice, leaning towards you. “Did you tell Professor Voclain to… _fuck off_?” Mary rarely cursed and she quickly looked around guiltily as if a teacher would expel her on the spot. 

 

Some fifth-year girl, Fiona Gallahan or something, who sat a little further down the table found it hilarious and laughed at you with her friends. What the hell was her problem?

   You resisted an urge to flick her off (that probably wouldn’t go down well considering your past actions) so you simply narrowed your eyes at her, much like Voclain had done with you. That seemed to silence her and you returned your attention to Mary and the girls. 

 

   “It’s true-”

 

Lily swatted your arm with something, a book, and interrupted you before you had any time to explain yourself, “What were you thinking?-”

 

   “-I wasn’t thinking,” you blurted out. “I know it was stupid. But it was like it just stumbled out my mouth.”

 

They all exchanged some glances. Barely believing your lame-ass excuse. But it was true. The words had just fallen out your mouth the same way people trip over their shoelaces. 

 

   “So what’s the verdict?” Marlene asked with a raised eyebrow. 

 

   “Detention in the trophy room every Thursday, fourth period, for the rest of the semester.” Their mouths fell agape in shock and… pity. “It gets worse,” you added. “I have to serve my time in trophy jail with Sirius Black.” You spoke his name like venom dripping off your tongue. 

 

   Mary scoffed. “There’s a long list of girls who would kill to spend alone time with Sirius Black.”

 

   “Well, you can cross my name off of that list.” You put some food on your plate but didn’t really feel like eating after everything. Why did you seem like the only girl who was immune to Sirius Black’s charm? Sure, he had some nice enough hair, a muscled-but-not-too-much figure, a great laugh, and stunningly gorgeous face. But no, he was still so entitled, obnoxious, bad, and being a Black meant he hated muggleborns. You’d heard the stories. 

 

   “Did you hear?” 

 

Your attention turned to Matthew, a sixth-year Ravenclaw guy who’d been your successfully-platonic-male-friend for about 6 years. He was usually smiley and kind, but something was weighing him down today as he joined you at the table. 

 

   “What’s up, Matty?” you asked curiously. The other girls around you seemed to catch on that something was off as well. 

 

   “Do you know Erina Flurason?” He looked at you and then the girls who all nodded hesitantly. We all knew her, vaguely, you’d been to some of the same illicit parties as her last year. She was one of those effortlessly popular girls. She was pretty, but not too much. Attractive but approachable. She was a Ravenclaw like Matthew. “Her parents went missing this weekend.”

 

A silence fell around you. 

 

It was odd. You’d just been thinking about detention and womanizing boys, and then news like that struck you and everything was put into perspective. How small your problems were in comparison to Erina's. 

   There’d been a large rise in missing cases these last few years and some talk of some Dark Lord. But most were just rumours. The Ministry didn’t have much information and if they did they certainly didn’t share it with the rest of the Wizarding World. But they couldn’t keep the missing cases under wrap. And by now everyone knew what it meant. Those who go missing - don’t come back.

 

   Lily was the first to speak up. Kind, as always. “That’s terrible, Matthew, if you see Erina then please let her know that we’re thinking of her.” She managed a smile, which you figured must have been hard to produce given the situation. But Lily’s first priority was always kindness. 

 

   He smiled and nodded at her. “Will do.” Then he looked back at you and his face turned slightly puzzled. “We need to talk soon.” 

   Crap. You knew what that meant. He’d heard about the incident in Ghoul Studies too. By the way, people had looked at you when you had entered the room then you figured everyone else knew as well. There’d been a mix of respect, ridicule, and disgust on everyone’s faces. Which is understandable. 

 

   You assured him that you would tell him all about it once you had the time and he walked back to the table. 

 

   “He is so cute,” Mary said fondly. It seemed a bit out of place given the horrible news you’d just received, but you were glad to be brought out of your gloomy thoughts and have some cheer return to the table. 

 

   “He most definitely is not,” you scoffed. Was he though? He had sandy blonde hair, and blue eyes, making him excel in Ravenclaw colours. You’d never been attracted to him and had always only seen him as a friend, but now that you thought about it you could see how other girls might find him handsome. Sure, he was pretty cute. Not drop-dead-gorgeous like Sirius-

 

   “Talking about me?” Sirius appeared from behind you as if on cue. And for a second you froze in horror of whether he’d just read your thoughts. But no, he’d just heard Mary talk about a cute guy and assumed it was him. Like the narcissist that he is. 

   Peter, Remus, and James were with him, they seemed to be on their to way out of the Great Hall, probably headed towards Charms, which was the next class that you all shared. 

 

   “Actually, we were talking about arrogant assholes,” you shot him a look, “but I guess you belong in that category.”  

 

   “You would know.” He then winked at you and ran a hand through his hair. Guess he’s not as mad at you as he was twenty minutes ago. And if he was he didn’t let it show. 

 

   “Hello Sirius,” a flirtatious voice said. Fiona... Galactica... or something. That fifth-year girl. She was quite short and probably only fifteen years old but her massive chest made her seem older.

 

   “Hi?” He said, switching his attention from you to her, but not giving her the instant gratification that he usually did with girls. He almost seemed oblivious to her flirtatious behaviour, which was quite odd for him. He was usually quick to switch to his seductive mode. 

 

She brushed some hair behind her ear and batted her lashes at him. You had to do your best not to hold back a scoff. “My name’s Fiona. Fiona Gallagher.” Right. Gallagher. That makes more sense. Although Galactica would have been a much more awesome last name. 

 

   “Cool,” he said and turned his attention back to you. “So, we both have charms next period and I thought maybe you’d want to talk about social etiquette before class. Judging from the fact that you last-”

 

   “There’s a party in the common room this weekend!” Fiona blurted out and probably saved you from whatever snarky comment Sirius was about to make although that most likely wasn’t her intention. She’d lost her composure for a second but quickly regained it and then flashed Sirius a sugar-sweet smile. You certainly hadn’t heard about a party in the common room and you and your group of girls were usually invited to them. It was also typically held in relation to a Quidditch game or some other event. “Yeah, Sabrina is going to host it,” she said and gestured to her tall friend that was sat beside her. She, however, looked quite startled but when Fiona shot her a look she seemed to wake up a bit and then just nod along with it. 

 

   “Totally,” Sabrina said and smiled directly towards James, “it’s a start of term celebration kind of thing.” Odd. School started September 1st which was a Friday this year so if there ever was a time to hold that type of party it would’ve been last weekend. Not this upcoming one. 

 

   “Well, if there’s a party - we’ll be there,” James grinned as he spoke up for the rest of the guys obviously already excited to let loose. Remus, Peter, and Sirius nodded along and exchanged some looks. “Won’t we Lily?”

 

   Lily looked as taken aback as you were. But she quickly glanced at you for help, and instantly you did the best friend thing where you have a telepathic conversation with each other through subtle eye contact. The raised eyebrows clearly meant, _Should we go?_

   To which you responded aloud, “Of course Lily will be there,” you then gestured towards Mary and Marlene, “As will we.” 

 

This resulted in Fiona being visibly annoyed and you couldn’t help but smile smugly. 

 

   “Great,” she said stiffly, but then returned her gaze to Sirius in a failed attempt to have something which can only be described as eye-sex. 

 

After lunch you had charms. The subject at Hogwarts which you were best in. Probably the best one in your class. When you’d researched for pranks you’d had to read a lot of books about charms and had accidentally educated yourself extensively. 

   So, that class went by in a breeze, as did fifth period which was transfiguration. Sirius and the others had been in both of them and you kept getting awkward eye contact with him. Was he making sure you weren’t going to tell another teacher to bugger off or what was going on? He didn’t talk to you though, probably cause you sat with Lily, Mary, and Marlene. 

 

   Remus, however, spent every moment he could find with you alone to apologize or ask about how you were healing up. If he told you how sorry he was one more time you swore you would give him something to be sorry about. But it was quite cute. So you didn’t show how much it had started to annoy you. 

   The next period was Transfiguration which you were alright in as well. Not as good as Lily though, you felt as though you never were. 

 

Transfiguration marked the end of the school day and you spent the rest of the day just chilling by the lake with Lily, Mary, and Marlene. This would probably be the last week of the year where the weather was decent so you had to soak up as much sun as possible before the weather turned south. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, as the outside was filled with students studying or just hanging out. 

 

Lily was in the shade of a tree trying her best to study, as always, while trying to ignore you, Mary, and Marlene who was deep in conversation talking about boys instead of school. 

 

   “I can either do my homework or interrogate you guys about your love life and frankly, I have priorities,” Lily called out after another failed attempt of yours to get her involved in the conversation. 

 

You exchanged a look that clearly said “nerd” with the other girls, as you stood knee-deep in the lake as a means to cool off. Lily knew her skin’s limit and hid from the rays of the sun under the tree, but Marlene who shared the same skin complexion but blonde hair had no such fears and stood beside you under the burning sun. Mary, however, had none of that concern as she was lightly tanned already. 

 

   “So,” Marlene began, “I heard Slughorn asked Matthew Penshurst to join the Slug Club.”

 

   “Really?” It didn’t surprise you. But you still felt a pang of jealousy. “Matty is a smart pureblood with a connected family, so I guess it was bound to happen sometime. I’m surprised he wasn’t asked last year.”

 

Marlene and Mary exchanged a look that usually meant that they had some knowledge that you didn’t. 

 

   “Come on! You know what this means,” Mary said. Apparently, you must be dumber than you thought because you really didn’t. So, you just stared at her with a raised brow until she continued. “He’s your first-class ticket to Slug’s Christmas Party - you’ve always wanted to go.” 

 

True. You had always wanted to go to Slughorn’s Christmas Party. It was one of the most lavish events of the year, for only the most prestigious of students. But you’d always hoped to go as a member of the club and not as a plus one. 

 

   “No, I’d rather not have to do that ridiculous dance.” you lied. 

 

The party was a huge event every year. Back when it had first started it had been held in the Great Hall, and the girls would wear ballgowns, but the last ten years it had been held in Slughorns large suite of a room. A bit of downgrade, really. And the girls were no longer required to wear ballgowns just long dresses. You imagined that in a couple of years it would be even more relaxed. 

 

At the party, they also did some kind of a square dance, where the couple would be introduced by Slughorn. Like, Lily’s introduction would probably be some pompous stuff like: _We cordially represent Lily J. Evans, Head Girl of the Gryffindor house and an exceptionally gifted witch._ She’d then walk down a staircase or some equally extravagant stuff like that and be escorted to the dancefloor by her date where she’d square dance whilst former members of Slug Club would watch and eventually join in.

 

“Besides, Matty wouldn’t invite me.”

 

   “That’s nonsense. I’m pretty sure he’s head over heels for you.”

 

You looked at Marlene and nearly barfed. “He’s just a friend. I swear.” 

 

   “The look he was given you was a little bit more than platonic.”

 

The girls obviously didn’t know what they were talking about. You and Matty had been friends since his first year and would always be just that. Friends. Nothing more. But in all honesty, he probably would bring you to the party if you asked. You did enjoy each other’s company a lot, however, he’d most likely prefer bringing a girl whom he actually liked-like that. The dance did have romantic undertones. 

 

   “No, just no.” You ultimately said and shrugged off the whole idea altogether.  

 

You were just about to join Lily under the shade of the tree as a means to escape Marlene and Mary’s line of questioning. But as you trudged out of the water - James and Sirius appeared seemingly out of the blue. They were both openly smoking a cigarette.

 

   “You know…” You told them before they had a chance to bug Lily who was still focused on her Advanced Arithmancy homework, “you’re not allowed to do that.”  


   “You’re also not allowed to tell teachers to fuck off but that didn’t stop you,” James said in that cocky way of his. 

 

   “I would tell you to go fuck yourself, James, but that would be an unusually cruel punishment.” 

 

   Lily then looked up from her book for the first time in an hour. “You should take that very personally. (Y/N) knows all about cruel punishment. She has to spend detention alone with Sirius once a week.”

 

James let out a laugh while Sirius coughed on the smoke he was currently inhaling. 

 

   “I didn’t expect that from you, my kind Lily,” James said, with sparkling eyes. Ew. 

 

   “Don’t act so shocked. We both know my wit is the reason why you like me.” Lily had said it in a platonic way, however, the look in James’ eyes was anything but. Which made you question if you were as oblivious to Matthew’s feelings as Lily was to James’.   


   “I could come up with a few more reasons, to be honest,” James said longingly. He had without a doubt a full list of reasons why he liked her in his head. Actually, he’d probably written it down as well. 

 

   “I might literally vomit,” Marlene said what you were thinking. And that made you laugh out loud.

 

   “Sirius, are you blushing?” James asked all of a sudden and you’re eyes fell on Sirius who’d been a bit quiet and his eyes immediately tore away from you.

 

   “Pft. No.” he stammered and then ran a hand through his hair and brought the cigarette to his lips again. “It’s just cold out.”

 

   “Mate, it’s like 20 degrees.”

 

   “It’s a sunburn then.”

 

   “Sure,” James said at last but continued to eye him suspiciously. You did the same. He did have slightly red cheeks which were a rare sight on him. Was he embarrassed over something? Or…? No. Not possible… But it would make sense as to why he was usually looking towards your end of the table in the Great Hall. Or why he always joined James when he went to talk with Lily.

 

Sirius had surely feelings for Marlene.

 

The boys were about to walk away and you saw this as an opportunity to talk with her about it. Possibly tease. As you do. 

 

You went to lightly grab her arm, and guide her away from the others, “Hey, can we talk for-“ the second you touched her skin everything went pitch black. You felt your body fall. But you couldn’t see anything. Just darkness. Void. You were falling and falling into a bottomless pit. Your arms were flailing–hoping to grasp ahold of something–but nothing was there.

   Then the flashes began. You were no longer in your body. All you saw were images, they were the only thing that existed. Your body was no more. One image after the other. All replaced with at the blink of an eye. Marlene. Blood. A skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. Then flashes of green light. Terror. Death. Sorrow. 

 

And then you woke up.

 

You were panting, sweating, and… screaming. You were screaming so loud you thought your lungs might give out. 

 

Instantly someone's arms were around you and for a second you thought it might have been the hands of death about to drag you off. It was quite the opposite. 

 

It was Lily hugging you tightly with the kind of warmth only Lily could have. Your scream died out and was replaced with sobbing. 

 

Your breathing was shallow and ragged, but Lily helped. She stroked your hair and simply held you in her arms for a little bit and reminded you to breathe. Thankfully, she didn’t pressure you to speak– you weren’t able. Your throat was so so sore. Sore from the screaming and sore from crying.

 

You don’t know how much time passed but once the tears stopped running and you were able to breathe properly, you were finally able to take in your surroundings. You weren’t at the lake anymore but in the Hospital Wing, staring at the many beds with white sheets and pillows that lined the wall. The sun had gone down and only candles were illuminating the room.

 

The room was empty of people besides you and Lily. On the nightstand next to you were lots of books and parchment. It must have been Lily who had brought it there to study.

 

   “What happened?” you asked and swung your legs over the side of the bed so you were sitting next to her. A throbbing headache made you dizzy for a second but Lily was quick to hand you a glass of water.

 

  “Honestly… I have no idea,” Lily said and her eyes seemed to get a faraway look to them, almost haunted, as she seemingly recollected what had happened. “I was just studying and the next thing I know–you were screaming on the ground. I mean, Sirius caught you before you fell but at first, your body had just gone completely limb.” She stopped for a second and took a deep breath. Sirius had caught you? You don’t recall that. “I thought you’d just dropped dead and we couldn’t wake you up. So, Sirius carried you here… And then the screaming began and the shaking. It was quite terrifying really.”

 

   “I was unconscious for all of that... I don’t remember anything.”

 

   “That’s the thing, though, your eyes were wide open.”

 

A chill ran through your body as you imagined the scene playing out in your head. Your eyes wide open, but non-responsive, the shaking and the screaming...

 

In your mind that didn’t make any sense. Everything had gone black before you hit the ground. Or technically you didn’t hit the ground - Sirius caught you - so why did it feel like you had? 

 

You felt as though you were losing your mind. Like the walls were caving in on you. What was going on? What did this all mean?

 

   “(Y/N).” Lily said, gripping your hand softly and pulling you away from your thoughts. She managed one of those rare smiles that only she could pull off. One that said: _hey, I’m concerned about you but I want you to know that you can trust me and I’m here for you._

 

Swallowing, you nodded and gave her a weak smile in return. She let go of your hand but her look told you that she was still troubled by all this.

 

   “I’m okay.” You assured her. You didn’t like the seriousness of the situation and how everything seemed so solemn. “In all honesty, I’m probably just worked up with everything going on. If only there was a super relaxing place that my best friend had access to?” you looked at her in anticipation. And she took a deep breath before answering.

 

   “Fine... I will get you into the Prefect's Bathroom.”

 

You almost squealed. The Prefect’s Bathroom was the definition of luxury. You’d tried to convince Lily into giving you the password for years, but she wasn’t much of a rule breaker. But I guess having a seizure (or whatever it was) allowed her to bend the rules a little bit. 

 

“The password is Witch Hazel,” she said reluctantly. 

 

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” You gleefully cheered all of a sudden and sprung from the bed which surprised Lily who’d just looked at you as if you were a wounded animal. She laughed for a second but her facial expression took a more serious turn all of a sudden.

 

   “Sit down and eat first. I’ll find you some food.”

 

   “No need. I’m not really hungry.” you brushed her off. You’d basically just eaten lunch before passing out so you still felt pretty full.

 

   “What? How are you not hungry? You haven’t eaten in a day.”

 

   “A day? Exaggerate much?”

 

She suddenly looked at you with a curious look on her face. 

 

   “How long do you think you were out?”

 

   “I don’t know. My initial guess would have been a couple of seconds but since it’s dark out it must have been for at least an hour.”

 

   “(Y/N)... You were out for more than a day.”

 

If you were Lily Evans your reaction would have gone a little like this: “WHAT? I missed an entire day of school!” But you being you, it went a little more like this:

 

   “Okay- I need a second to process that,” you sat down took a deep breath and then immediately stood back up again with a wide smile. “Alright, ready to roll. I have taken naps longer than 24 hours before so this is nothing out of the ordinary. No worries.”

 

In all honesty, it kind of freaked you out that you’d been out till Wednesday evening but what could you do about it? 

 

Lily raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, taking the Mum-Stand. “You’re unbelievable. Sit your rash arse down and wait a minute.” 

 

One should not think twice about disobeying Lily Evans when she took the Mum-Stand that much you had managed to learn over the years of being her best friend. She’d make a great parent if she had children. Kind but stern. 

 

   “Yes, ma’am.” You did a military salute with your hand and sat back down. “Would you mind filling in the gaps by the way? Did I miss anything weird while I was… you-know?”

 

She considered for a minute before taking a seat on the bed opposite you. “Nothing too weird or out of the ordinary. You had a lot of visits from the girls and then the guys checked in as well.”

 

   “The guys?”

 

   “You know- the Marauders. Remus, James, Sirius and even Peter. Anyways, they brought you some chocolate but I think Mary ate it when she did was here with you. OH- don’t worry about the classes you missed. I did your homework and wrote some notes on what you missed.”

 

   “Lils! You never do my homework!” You had tried to get her to do your homework for several years but she’d always insisted only to help you with it since “ _just doing it for you wouldn’t be helping you at all.”_

 

   “I was willing to make exceptions considering everything. Also, our Wednesday schedule is identical so it was no problem at all. First: Defence Against the Dark Arts, Second: Potions, then lunch, Third: Divination,” she cut herself off and her face grew worrisome again, something was on her mind. 

 

   “What?”

 

   “Well… You know how you asked if something weird had happened while you were out. Our Divination professor kept checking in on you. To see if you’d woken up. And he kept asking these weird questions.”

 

   “Weird questions how?” You didn’t mind the fact that your new hot professor Alabastor Ronion was concerned about you but by the way that Lily was talking about it it seemed as if it might be something more than that. 

 

   “Like, what had triggered your… seizure. And if you’d said anything. Or if it had happened before. It would also get really specific like if your voice had changed before you fell.”

 

   “I’ll admit that’s a little strange. But he is a Divination teacher and that’s enough weirdness in itself. Also, he seems a little…”

 

   “eccentric?” 

 

   “Thank you, Dictionary, I can always count on you.” you teased her.

 

   Lily laughed and tossed a pillow at you. She was used to you teasing her about her extensive vocabulary and general intelligence, sometimes you wondered if that was what your friendship was based on. She was the friendly brainiac and you were… comic relief?

   "But seriously, (Y/N), I'm worried about you. You barely healed from the attack and now you've collapsed and no one knows why." 

 

   "I know why. It was a hotness overload. My body can't contain all _this_ " You said with a wink a sly smile and gestured to your body. Lily responded with a laugh but her smile died down a little bit. She was concerned and she had every right to be, usually, she knew everything about anything and neither she nor you had any knowledge about what was going on with you. 

 

   "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you."

 

   "I know! That's why I'm trying subtly to avoid it." You winked. And she let out an exasperated sigh of defeat. If you didn't want to be serious you were not going to be serious– which she knew. Stubbornness was a gift sometimes. 

 

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. You didn’t join dinner in the Great Hall, you could only imagine the kind of looks you’d get, so you ate the food Madam Pomfrey served which was some healthy soup that made you feel a lot better about your earlier headache. Dumbledore stopped by, which was odd, you didn’t talk to him a lot but he did question what had happened in as few words as possible as he does. 

   Mary and Marlene joined Lily by your side which was odd at first because they trod very carefully and spoke to you like they would a dying grandma. But they lightened up by talking about what you’d missed that day. Which wasn’t much, except that Sirius had jokingly sniffed some sort of fungi during Herbology that made him so drowsy that he was almost sent to the Hospital Wing. That wasn’t exactly weird behaviour, he did reckless shit like that all the time. 

   They talked for some time until Matthew Penshurst showed up. He’d brought flowers and a book. (Fiction, of course, the only books you like to read). You’d hoped he’d be in a good mood like he usually was but he was concerned like the girls and treated you like a porcelain doll. So you dismissed him by saying you were tired and needed to rest, which he understood, but he still hesitated to walk away. 

 

Once you had the privacy of a dark evening you headed for the Prefect’s Bathroom which was located on the fifth floor in the Hospital Tower. Convenient. 

 

Little did you know that someone else was headed for the Prefect’s Bathroom too...

 


	9. The Golden Bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader goes for a dip in the Prefect's Bathroom...

**9\. The Golden Bath**

 

One of the perks of being in the Hospital Wing for the night was that sneaking out was a whole lot easier–once you got past Madam Pomfrey–the Hospital Tower was almost completely empty. Most of the people who walked the castle looking for people who were sneaking out were naturally near the dorms. 

   The Prefect’s Bathroom was on the fifth floor, on the fourth door to the left of a statue of Borris the Bewildered. 

   “Witch Hazel.” You whispered and the door opened. 

   It was heaven. Near a big window, which showed the starry night, there was a sunken swimming pool-like tub. The golden bath taps were running which had filled the pool with water and big soap bubbles. It was very convenient that the pool was already filled, you’d been afraid you’d have to wait an eternity for it to fill up. Opposite of the pool there were stalls with toilets inside and presumably dressing rooms. On a gilded table, by the water, there were towels and bathrobes. 

   You slowly started undressing and placed your possessions including your wand on the tabletop, besides some live candles. 

   The room was warm and foggy almost like a steam bath which made it a bit more welcoming for you to stand naked in the empty room.

   You dipped your toe in the hot water, and–although it lightly scolded you–you emerged yourself into the water. It was pure bliss, you breathed in the vanilla-scented air, allowing yourself to completely relax in the weightlessness of the water. So much had happened lately, the attack first day of school, your wound getting infected, Remus seeing you do the prank, Professor Alabastor’s weird fortune-telling, you telling Professor Voclain to fuck off, you passing out, and for the first time in a long time you could finally just have a moment to yourself to just completely relax and-

   “Good evening,” a disembodied voice said.

   “JESUS CHRIST!” you shrieked and instantly covered your chest with your hands, although the bubbles and the fog did a pretty good job at that.

   “No, just me,” Sirius said smugly. He was at the other end of the pool, the back of his head was resting against the edge, much like yours had been a minute ago. 

   “How long have you been in here!?”

   “Longer than you’d like.” he started moving towards you and by doing so, he subsequently had to raise himself a little from the coverage of the bubbles, as he got near you could see him a lot better compared to five minutes ago where he’d been almost invisible. You noticed the way the water on his body reflected in the candlelight and highlighted every feature of his body like oil on a greek god, you noticed the way his muscles shifted underneath his skin, and the way his hair was dripping into his eyes. 

   “Would you- would you stay on your side, please!” You backed up a little bit but were met by the edge of the pool. So, you collected some bubbles around you to keep your decency.

   Sirius continued coming closer.  

   “Why don’t you make me?” His voice was husky and his eyes unyielding as they gazed into yours. 

   And for a second you were short of breath. “You’re so smug I could punch you...” you said in an attempt to regain some of your composure. But your attempt to intimidate him was unsuccessful.

He chuckled and rested his back against the edge of the pool like you did. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re recovering,” he smiled but suddenly a serious intensity returned to his eyes, “you really had m- us scared there for a second.” 

   “Really? Well, I do live to be dramatic,” you said tauntingly in an attempt to diffuse the seriousness of the situation but it didn’t happen. So, whatever smile you had died down. “Thank you, Sirius.”

   He then cocked his head to the side in confusion. Almost in a dog-like manner. 

“-For getting me to the hospital wing,” you specified. “Lily told me you carried me there.”

   “Oh. Right,” he smiled gently. “But let’s not make a habit out of it.” He was probably referring to the past few times he’d had to carry you this week. First, when the idiot kicked your shoes into the lake and he had to lift you to class. Then when you passed out in the hallway and he carried you to the hospital wing to see Remus, third when he carried you to the guys’ dorm and then yesterday, when you seizured and had that weird vision. The vision. You’d almost forgotten about that.

   “I’ll try not to pass out around you then.”

   “I should be used to it by now. Girls pass out around me all the time.”

   “Is that so?” you laughed. “It’s probably because of your doglike stench, they can hardly breathe.”

Now, it was his turn to laugh. He did have a lovely laugh, you admitted. One you’d never grown tired of hearing no matter how many times it had disrupted class over the years. You’d heard it so often now that you knew he had different types of laughs. One was mocking, one was a silent chuckle, one was a giggle which was rarely heard only when Remus or James decided to tickle him in class, and then there was this laugh. A genuine laugh. He thought you were funny. 

   You didn’t notice that you were looking at his mouth until it was closed again. So, you quickly diverted your gaze from his lips to his eyes that were already locked on you. An intense stare. You turned your head and looked towards the other end of the room. All of a sudden, incredibly aware of how naked the two of you were. Your breath hitched slightly. 

   Next to you, Sirius swallowed and stirred a little bit in the water.  

“Why are you here?” you asked in an attempt to kill the moment that had just been between the two of you. And there had been a moment. You couldn’t deny that. Another thing you couldn’t deny was how much you had wanted to place your lips upon his-

   “Ditching Astronomy. As are you.” 

   Crap. You’d forgotten about Astronomy. You had it every Wednesday at midnight, but considering you’d been in the Hospital Wing for the entire day then you weren’t exactly obligated to go today. 

   “Wait…” you thought for a second. How did he know the password to this place? He wasn’t a prefect or anything. “ _How_ are you here?”

   “Excellent question. It’s not like my best friend is the Head Boy and the Quidditch Captain,” he said sarcastically. _Right_. James Potter knew the password and he would have had none of the moral conundrums about giving it out as Lily had.

   You simply nodded and returned to silence.  

   He looked at you curiously. He had a tendency to do that, “What happened when you passed out? Has it happened before?” Just thinking about the episode sent shivers down your spine. The answer was simple, you didn’t know. All you did know was that you hoped it would never happen again. It wasn’t just about what you’d seen. Death. It’s that you’d felt death. You felt the coldness and loneliness of the dark void and you’d felt it to your core. When thinking about it, you could still feel it. As if it had left an invisible mark. 

   “I don’t- I don’t know,” you said, your voice was a mere brittle. 

   Sadness, along with recognition, clouded Sirius’ features as if he’d felt what you’d felt.

   Perhaps, there was more to him than what you’d given him credit for. 

What followed next was an awkward silence, to say the least. Once again you were aware of the closeness of his body and yours… his breathing… his muscles… his eyes. Those eyes that seemed to be studying your face as you were studying his. 

   You quickly looked away. You tried to ignore the fluttering in your stomach when you’d noticed his gaze drift to your lips. You tried to ignore how _damn_ handsome he was, and how the candlelight accentuated his every feature. You tried to ignore how much you wanted to press your lips against his. You really tried. 

   The gap between the two of you was almost non-existent at this point. And it seemed to be closing even further as every second passed. 

   Time seemed to drag out. And you wondered whether you’d be stuck at this moment–before a kiss–forever. Your heart was racing. Pounding against your ribs like an animal stuck in a cage. All you needed to do was let it out. Just let it out.

   Sirius tilted his head a little closer to yours, and you felt the graze of his bottom lip against yours. Fire. 

   Fire and big orange flames. 

   No. That’s not a metaphor of how the kiss felt. Cause there was no kiss. Instead, there was a _literal fire_.

   You tore your gaze away from Sirius and towards the gilded table where the big orange flames sprung from. That same table ontop which you’d placed your clothes next to the candles. 

   Those candles had burned down and now your clothes were on literal fire. 

   Idiot.

   Sirius’ eyes were wide in shock, as you imagine yours were. 

   In any other situation, you would have sprung into action grabbed your wand and extinguished the fire. But seeing as you were naked and you’d rather not have Sirius see your naked behind as you got up from the pool then you kind of just watched your clothes burn. 

   “Why does this keep happening to me…” 

   Sirius chuckled as you both watched your clothes burn. Why were you so unlucky lately? 

“You should probably put that out.”

   You wanted to smack him on the side of the head and yell: _you think?!_ How on Earth had you wanted to kiss him just mere seconds ago?

   “And have you look at my behind? I’d rather not,” you imagined how he’d probably ogled at you when you were undressing earlier, “You’ve already seen enough of me this evening than I _ever_ intended.”

   “Hey, I didn’t look! I do have _some_ decency in life. Or do you really think that low of me?”

   All you did was raise your eyebrows at him.

“Yeah, don’t answer that.” 

   “Just… Turn around,” you said and waited for him to do so. 

   He shot you a smile and covered his eyes with his hands and turned around. 

   Your wand was the only thing not burnt, thankfully Lily had placed a protection spell on it after Mary had dropped hers into an acid-filled cauldron once, and now it was immune to all sorts of shit. So, you cupped some water and threw it on your wand and then quickly grabbed it. Quickly you did an Extinguishing Spell and the flames died down. 

   “Is everything okay?” Sirius asked, still facing the wall. 

   “That question is rather relative,” you picked at your scorched pyjamas and the towels with your wand. Everything was beyond fixing. “The fire’s out which is good. But I’m currently standing naked without a towel or clothes, so no, everything is not okay!”

   “Go into the stall, that’s where my clothes are. You can wear my robe.”

   “Seriously?”

   “Siriusly.”

You did as you were told and wore his much too large robe, that worked almost like an oversized kimono. You crossed your arms, to keep it closed. “Alright, you can come up now,” you said as you covered your eyes as well. 

   Although you could only hear him get up, it didn’t stop you from imagining it in your head. 

   “Would you like to talk about it?” he said, as he was getting dressed. 

   “Talk about what?” you asked, for a split-second wondering if he’d read your mind, picturing him naked.  
   “Talk about what’s going on between us. Our moment? ”  
   “What-? What moment?”  
   “You trying to kiss me?”

   “Me? Trying to kiss YOU?” you scoffed as you swirled around in a hot-headed rage, “I knew you were a bit bonkers, but that’s-that’s just downright delusional...” 

   He was wearing his pants and socks but not yet a shirt. Once again you caught yourself staring at him– his abs stretching, as he pulled the white button-up shirt over his head. It was a part of the standard Hogwarts uniform but it always looked different on him compared to everyone else. Classy yet messy at the same time. 

   “You amuse me.” he walked up and stood in front of you face to face. Once again, a bit too close. His hair, often voluminous, was flattened by the water and framing his face. That same water was dripping onto his white shirt that was still, open with two or three buttons. Three, you just counted. The shirt was wet and clung to his chest–he didn’t have a towel since they had been burnt to pieces along with your clothes. He tucked some of your hair behind your ear and rested his hand on the side of your face, guiding you to meet his intense gaze. Those gorgeous eyes. 

   Your breath hitched.

   “Tell me the truth,” he said, his voice deep and husky, “what’s going on between us?”

   “Nothing."

   He didn't look convinced.

"The only thing between us,” your eyes drifted back to his lips, and you had to really focus to look him in the eyes as you said it, “is hatred.”

  His jaw tightened, and you could tell that what you’d said had bothered him, but he quickly forced a smile and scoffed. “Whatever you say, (Y/L/N).”

   It wasn’t a lie, was it? He was from a pureblood family, one that was known for its negative opinions on muggleborns. You were muggleborn. He knew that. He must. That’s probably why he liked to tease you the way he did. To make a fool out of you. It must be.

   He turned around, his eyes were suddenly a lot less gleaming than they had been, and started tying his shoes which you took as your cue to leave. 

   You were without shoes which you immediately noticed when you stepped onto the cold cobblestone in the hallway. 

   “(Y/N)?”

   You swirled around so fast that the robe swayed, almost exposing you. The hallway wasn’t as dark and empty as you’d expected. 

   Instead, Remus stood with his wand out, a bright light illuminating the area around him from the tip of his wand. He eyed you curiously.

“You’re wet...and” his eyes drifted downwards, all the way to your bare feet. He swallowed and then continued, “...naked?”

   “Well, not completely naked... But yes naked under this robe as I imagine you are naked under your clothes as well,” you said as if this was completely normal. Needless to say, you were mortified but he didn’t need to know that. “Not that I imagine you naked under your clothes.”

   He chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

“So, what are you doing out in the hallway?” you asked.

   Remus lightly tapped his prefect badge, “I’m on hallway duty. I have to see if any students would be out and about after curfew.”

   “Of course.” you smiled as sweetly as you possibly could. “I haven’t seen any rascals out here but if I do I’ll be sure to let you know.”

   He laughed again, sticking one of his hands into his pockets, clearly a bit uncomfortable in the situation. “(Y/N), it appears you are one of those _rascals_ out here.”

   “Yes, I guess it would appear so.”

   “You’ve even been taking unauthorized use of the Prefect's Bath?”

   “Oh no, I just got caught in the rain.”

   “It hasn’t rained for two days, and your feet are too clean to have been outside.”

   “Well, aren’t you the clever detective…” you eyed him as suspiciously as he did you. He seemed to be finding this incredibly amusing and you wondered for a second if he was going to ‘turn you in’ so to speak. “What are you going to do? About having seen me out here”

   “I _haven’t_ seen you out here,” he stated. That’s what you’d figured. He already knew about many of your other "illegal" activities, it would be odd if this was the one he couldn’t let slide. “But only if you tell me what you actually were doing out here?”

It was at this moment Sirius decided to come out from the bathroom, just as wet as you, and just as shocked to see Remus. 

“Let me rephrase that– _who_ were you doing?” Remus added with an eyebrow lifted. 

   On any other occasion, Sirius would have been the first to laugh. But his mood wasn’t really fit for that. So he simply clapped Remus on the shoulder to greet him. 

   “I should go…” you said, and forced a small smile.

   Remus looked almost… disappointed. It was hard to say what Sirius felt. Apparently, he was a lot harder to read. 

  
Although you’d slept for an entire day you were suddenly tired. It was well past midnight and this had certainly been an experience and for the first time in a long time, you had no idea where you stood with Sirius. Usually, it was easy just to hate him from a distance, but that distance seemed impossible to maintain recently. And now, it was a lot harder to hate him. And a lot easier to let yourself fall for him. No. You couldn’t. You couldn’t possibly be falling for _Sirius Black._ That was the most basic Hogwarts girl move. Yet, it was what felt most right.


End file.
